The Millenium Dragon
by Sora W.T.K
Summary: In a matter of 6 days, one boy will discover a magnificent yet horrifying and dangerous truth deep within himself...
1. Prolouge

Draco Island, where the Dragon Council resides, is under attack. Most of the island is covered in a blazing fire, ice and water elemental dragons give it their all to douse the wild fire, but no matter how many water balls and ice shots they fire at it, the fire never gives up its majestic blaze.

Weak and injured dragons lie on the island grounds, exhausted and wounded from their struggle. One of them, a bulky blue dragon struggles to get up, but only to fall back on his stomach, the dragon suffers a burn wound on his left wing and a slash wound on his right ribs. Turning over onto his back, the dragon sets his focus on the struggle high in the sky.

"He's too strong!"

High above in the sky, the Dragon Council's toughest dragons are in a battle against one of their own. This particular dragon is declared the strongest of them all, the dragon had a strong bulky body and its height ranged from 7-8 ft, the scales all over its body was of pure shining gold with its underside from under the tail to under its jaw a dark reddish color. It roared as it swings its strong arms and claws around, the dragons flying about it narrowly dodging the attacks, the dragon's claws were impressively sharp and long, and one swift strike from them could easily slash a wing off.

"Look out!" One of the dragon fighters shout to his comrades, barely dodging a slash. "Gah! He's going to spit!"

He was right, the dragon reared back with its mouth open, charging in a huge breath and threw his head forward, spitting out a huge ball of fire. The dragons cry out and fly out of harm's way, the fire ball flying through the air and landing onto the ground below, engulfing its landing spot in a tremendous bush of flames.

"This has gone far enough…" An elderly voice claims, suddenly a breeze of ice dousing the fire that the fire ball started. "We better hurry up with that magic; I do not know how long we can hold out here…"

The elderly man with a long beard wears a long ice-blue tunic, covering his whole body down to the ground, the insignia of the Dragon Council on the front of the tunic. Behind him lays the entrance to the Dragon Council HQ, where the meetings and whatnot are held. The elder gasps as the opposing dragon strikes down one of his fellow dragons, he breathes in and cups one hand to his mouth and breathes out, releasing a burst of ice to the ground, snow forming from the ice breath and piling up onto the ground, where seconds later the struck down dragon lands safely onto the snow. Out of the snow pile pops out not a dragon, but an adult, close to his 30s, breathing heavily with a slash injury across his face.

"Elder…Guh…Huhh…" The young man breathed, he was out of breath and in a lot of pain. "He's too strong…We won't last long…"

"Patience young one…" The elder tells as he looks down at the young man. The man the elder is looking down upon is also Africa's dragon, the African Dragon. The elder doesn't know much of this young man, he has not so long came upon the Dragon Council for his dragon tests, though they have been cut short when the opposing dragon came into Draco Island and began its rampage.

"Elder!" A voice cried from behind, the elder turns to face the other elders of the Dragon Council. "The spell is ready." One of them informs, holding a bottle of magic in his hand. "Just like you said, with troll snot, pegasus fur and fairy dust. We only have one shot…"

"One shot is all we need…" The elder replies.

Up above, the enemy dragon is already laying waste on the dragons opposing him, smacking out of the sky any of them that got in close, and he enjoyed doing so. One dragon gets close enough and sends a fire ball right into its face, rearing it back, but instead of a cry of agony, it pulls its head forward in a smirk, suddenly bringing his head forward and head butting the daring dragon, sending him to the ground. It roars out in triumph as there are no more dragons to take on in the air, all of them lay on the ground defeated, each of them reverting back to their human forms after such a beating. Looking for more opponents before it lays waste unto the island; it sets its gaze down below, catching sight of the elders of the Dragon Council. Giving off its roar, the gold dragon rears back, opens its wings further and zooms down to the elders, flexing its claws, ready for when it gets within striking distance.

"He's coming…"

The elder opens the bottle, the mist of the mixed potion emitting from the bottle. The elder threw the potion in the air, closed his eyes and a big concentration of ice spikes erupts from the ground and engulf him, a pair of glowing blue eyes are seen through the ice and with one quick motion the elder within slashes horizontally from inside the ice cocoon, shattering and sending ice everywhere and revealing his dragon form, a tall and thin dark blue dragon with a beard, his eyes glowing blue from that powerful ice element he wields. The shattered ice strikes the potion bottle still in the air, shattering the bottle and leaving the liquid potion alone to drop. The elder, now in his dragon form, looks up and spots the gold dragon descending down upon him, getting closer and closer each passing second. The elder takes a deep breath, watching as the dragon gets ever closer to him, and in the right timing as the liquid of the potion is within range the elder lets out all of his collected breath out in a strong breeze of cold wind, ice and snow matter materializing in the breath and the potion is engulfed in it. The magic of the potion, combined with the icy breath, turns into an airborne ray spell. The gold dragon fears not of this and continues on his way, but not oblivious of the spell within the breath he flies right into the breath, his eyes suddenly goes wide as the spell strike head-on onto him, the dragon roaring in agony as it suddenly stops its descend and clutching at its chest, its gold scales turning gray and the reddish glow in its eyes dying.

The scattered dragons all over the island watch as the strongest dragon of them all loses its colors to the spell, slowly hardening until the dragon itself is no more but a stone, dropping to the ground and shattering into pieces, and along with it the fire that riddles Draco Island are doused by the spreading of the elder's ice breath. The danger is over, all of the dragons cheer in celebration while others sigh in relief. All of them celebrate the destruction of the dragon that has caused so much damage to Draco Island.

"Another slain…" The elder speaks, transforming back to his human form.

One of the other elders steps forward, asking: "How long will this continue?"

The elder who slaid the dragon sighs, looking down at the shattered stone that used to be a dragon. "Every 100 years our ancestors slay this dragon, later on to continue with hope that the next will be different…But the chains are bound, it'll never be broken…"

"But…" Another of the elders begins. "There is always that chance, correct?"

A nod later, the elder who have slaid the dragon continues. "There can only be hope, it takes the power of one to break the bounded chains and begin anew…" He pauses as his eyes are set on the statue piece that used to an arm of flesh and bone, the mark of a dragon below the wrist. "We can hope that the next will find the way to break these chains…"

* * *

"_Only then will the Millenium Dragon truly shine…"_

* * *

_100 years later…_

A forest on fire…

A flower field in flames…

A city in ruins…

This is all that remains when the Millenium Dragon is present. The tall, strong-looking gold scaled dragon stands beyond his own flames in the destroyed city, its arms crossed and head bowed with his eyes closed, enjoying its latest path of destruction, delighted with the final results.

Suddenly, its eyes open and it slowly turns, sensing someone behind it. While turning, the dragon builds up fire in its mouth, and then it shoots it in a fire ball to whoever's behind him…

* * *

Waking up from a rather bad dream, a young 13 year old boy opens his eyes, staring up at the ceiling of his room. The boy is clothed with a short sleeved black shirt and a pair of black shorts, he yawns as he slowly gets up, pulling off the covers from his body, giving off another yawn as he scratches his head. Resting an elbow on his knee, he bows his head a bit and recaps the dream he just had.

"The same dream…How odd…"

A ray of the sun enters into his room from his window next to his bed; he gets on his knees on his bed and leans forward, opening the window and looks outside to the city of New York, looking at the morning sun as another new day begins. Tonight has been the 3rd night of having the same dream about a giant, strong gold dragon that has engulfed most of the planet in flames, and then sensing the boy behind him and retaliating with a fire ball directly at him.

The boy stretches, turns around and gets off of his bed, giving off another yawn before he starts getting ready for school. The young boy and his family recently moved to New York and after three days of moving in, today, a Monday, it's his first day in a new school. _And 4 more days for the weekends._

The boy stretches again, on his left arm and below the wrist lies a mark of a dragon, his parents told him it's just a birthmark, but no one, not even the kid himself, knows exactly what that mark represents. But with the frequently repetitions of the same dream, there's no doubt that the boy will soon learn what this mark represents as it glows in a tiny glow, without the boy's knowledge…


	2. Day 1: It begins

(A/N: Sorry for such a late update, school was pretty rough these past few weeks, and I've been pretty much lazy on the weekends ;;)

* * *

The young boy pulls his shirt down as his head pops out from the shirt's hole. He pats at the shirt to rid of its wrinkles and dust, looking down at his blue shirt and long black pair of black jeans. "Gotta hurry, don't wanna be late…" The kid mutters to himself as he sits down on his bed and puts his black shoes with blue streaks on the back on. Leaning back and stretching out his left arm to grab at the wristband on the end of his window he stops as his eyes pick up the view of the dragon mark below his wrist. Many questions come into his mind every time he sees the mark. Why did it come to him? How could a birthmark form into a shape of a dragon? Why is he wasting time pondering when time is running out to get to school early. _Right, gotta hurry._

He grabs at the white and blue wristband and slips it on his left arm, concealing the mark. He combs his hair back and applies some hair gel on it, giving his hair a spiky look. Leaning closer to the mirror, he rubs his eyes and stares at them, his pair of red eyes staring back at him. How he was born with red eyes astounded everyone. There was no way of explaining it, seeing that being born red eye color is deemed impossible without wearing contact lenses, yet he was born with a pair of innocent looking ruby red eyes. Why was he born with those eyes is still a mystery.

"Yahto!" His mother cries from downstairs. "C'mon down, it's 7:40 AM!"

_7:40 AM already? Gotta move it. _Yahto hurried up. He went to his open closet and picked up the backpack lying on the ground inside of it, he then placed it on his back and out the door he went...But before he went, Yahto slowly backs away from the door, turning his head to his dresser. There sitting on top of the dresser lies a blue crystal tied on a wide, strong looking rope. Yahto never went anywhere without it, ever since his dad gave it to him he has kept it close to him wherever he went. To school, to the mall, to a swim, anywhere. He adored it so, wuth a smile he went to the dresser, picked it up and stuffed it into the outter pocket of the backpack, he's in a hurry so maybe he'll put it on at school. Now he's ready for school! He gets back to the door, opens it and walks out of his room and into the hallway outside.

The second floor has about 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a rope on the ceiling that when pulled down a ladder rolls down, giving path to the attic. Yahto makes quick pace to the stairs and climbs down to the home's first floor. To the left on the base of the stairs lies the kitchen, where on the right from the stairs is the living room and dining room.

"Morning mom!" Yahto greets as he takes a sharp right after climbing down the stairs.

"Hold on Yahto." Yahto freezes after opening the door and hearing the command of his mother commanding him to hold up. He turns and faces his mother, who in return advances to her son and holds out a letter. "Be sure to give to your teacher this note."

"Uh…OK." Yahto nods as he takes the letter from his mother, looking at the sealed envelope pondering if he's allowed to open it or not.

"Well…" His mother begins with a smile. "Have a good day at school, hon."

Yahto smiles, he places the envelope into his pocket and waves to his mother as he turns to the door. "See ya mom!" And with that Yahto runs down his home's stoop and down the street. Granted, Yahto isn't so eager to get to the new school, everything would be new to him, the teachers, the students, pretty much everything. He would probably need a map to get himself to the bathroom or to his next classroom. _An escort too if I'm lucky…_

Yahto along with his family all went out the day before to explore around the streets of New York, and to their surprise the school was much closer than they expected. By walking, it would take around 10 minutes, but by running it would take half the time. All Yahto needs to do is to run down a couple of blocks, take a left then a right and he would spot the school in front of him.

But Yahto suddenly stops, blinking a few times as if something jarred inside his mind. He shakes the feeling off and continues, this time in a walk. _Geez, what was that…?_

Suddenly, as he walks past an alley, he spots something through the corner of his eyes, something huge and gold. This causes Yahto to suddenly turn to face the alley, nothing... _But I saw something…Didn't I?_

Just for the sake to check it out if he's sane or not, Yahto slowly steps into the alley. There isn't anywhere to hide in the alley, at least nothing to hide something that huge. The alley also leads to a dead-end, nothing around him but dumpsters and trashcans. _But I know I saw something…_

Yahto shrugs, finally getting out of that dark alley and continues his way to school. He was suddenly remembered of his dream, that dream of a city burning, a whole city destroyed, and flames about. And that giant dragon, its scales gold in color…Those muscles and wings…

Yahto shook the thought away; he refuses to believe that whatever caught his eye at that alley could've been the dragon he's been dreaming about. _At least I'm almost there…_

Yahto could hear it, the sounds of other kids talking and laughing. The school is just ahead. Yahto was about to run over to his new school until another thing caught his attention. He stops and turns to his right to face another street. Slowly, he walks down that sidewalk, completely forgetting about school.

"No way…" He mutters. The buildings down this street, the street lights, everything. He gasps in horror, suddenly picturing the city in ruins from his dream, comparing it to this street he now walks on. "It's the same…" Yahto mutters again. "The same street…"

He could see it clearly, the broken street, the buildings in ruins and crumbled, even the fires scattered about. And as if a ghost, he can see the dragon, the huge gold dragon standing right in front of him. It slowly turns, glaring at Yahto with its red eyes and with a puff a fireball erupts from its mouth and straight at him.

Yahto gasps, shaking his head. The images out of his mind and the illusion away from his eyes, it was all so overwhelming. Yahto takes another good look around, recognizing everything from his dream.

"This has got to be a coincidence…Maybe Déjà vu…" Yahto shrugs it off as mere coincidence and slowly turns back, back on his way to school.

* * *

**DAY 1**

* * *

"Jake! We really need you for the skateboarding competition next week!"

Students from all over New York come to the Millard Fillmore Middle School to attend their classes and prepare for their future. A well built school located pretty much around the most residential area of New York, leaving it for easy access for the students and teachers. In front of the school hanging out on the stoop is none other than the American Dragon himself, Jake Long along with his two best friends, Trixie and Spud.

"Chill guys, I can make it." Jake assures his friends, replying to Trixie's statement of needing him for next week's skateboarding competition. "Just rest assured. Your man here will help you smear the competition."

"Well I hope so." Trixie adds. "You're pretty much swamped lately; we kind of don't see you after classes."

"Yeah I know." Jake sighs. "Lately the Huntsclan have been spotted pretty much everywhere. And we still don't know what the heck they're up to or even looking for." Jake scratches his head and continues. "And no matter how many of their butts I kick they keep coming back for more. I'm having _my_ butt kicked all over the place with how determined they are on whatever they're doing."

"Maybe they're looking for their missing cat?" Jake and Trixie blink, then turn their heads to Spud, raising one eyebrow at him. "What?" Spud retaliates. "My grandma made a lot of people search for her cat when it got lost!" Spud suddenly pauses and places his hand on his chin as if recalling back. "Although the cat was just sleeping on top of the tree in her backyard."

Jake and Trixie roll their eyes, expecting such a thing to come from Spud. "Well anyway," Trixie begins, changing the subject from Spud's grandma's cat. "You better tell your grandpa to keep you free next week for the competition. I mean, your grandpa is a dragon too, isn't he? Why can't he go around protecting the magical homies and whatnot?"

"I wish I could Trixie, but that's my responsibility." Jake replies, shaking his head while giving a sigh. "He's just gonna rub it in my face about me being the American Dragon and it's my job to protect the mystical creatures of this city. He's not gonna let me pass the baton for a day just for some competition."

"Well here's hoping for a free day for you to hang out with us for the competition." The school bell rings just as Trixie finishes, the three kids pick up their skateboards and head into the school to attend their classes.

Just as the gang enters the school, Yahto comes into the scene, stepping one foot unto the stoop and looking up at the building. It's just about 7:57 AM, and Yahto can't seem to bring himself to enter through the doors. It's a new place, a new school, new people, he feels like an outcast of sort. _But I can't stay out here, don't wanna be late on my first day…_

Yahto continues on and through the main doors. The school hallways are just about empty as everyone already enters to their classrooms getting ready for the day, no one around to notice the new kid that just got into the school. Now all he has to do is find his classroom, which is something easier said than done for someone who hasn't visited the school before and don't know squat of which direction to go first.

"Hm…" Yahto hums as he takes out a piece of paper from his pocket, reading up the information on it to find out his classroom and teacher. "Let's see…Classroom # 126…Teacher…" Yahto squints his eyes to take a better read at the name; a printing error has made the name a bit hard to read. "Pro…fessor…Hans Rot…wood…Professor Hans Rotwood?" _Hm, catchy name I guess…_

Yahto walks down the hall, looking at each classroom door and checking for their numbers. He's around the 100s, up ahead the 110s and then the 120s. He tries to make a mental map of the place, for a school it has some pretty long hallways, many students still roaming them, checking their lockers and getting their stuff before heading to class. To Yahto's left up ahead is the trophy case, further down the principal's office, and even further down is his classroom, #218. Yahto looks at the trophies as he passes along the case, admiring their gold shines and the winner's names engraved on them. The only trophy he ever won was on a field day on his old school for winning the racing competition. Farther on as he walked, Yahto saw the doorway to classroom #218, students entering the classroom as classes are about to begin. His eyes catch a closer detail on three of the students, one of them a young boy, probably the same age, with black hair and green tips, wearing a red jacket with yellow details on the shoulders and left side of the chest; another boy with a purple shirt and an orange long undershirt, and a black girl with a blue sleeveless shirt with a short-sleeved purple undershirt.

As fast as he saw them they disappeared through the door and into the room. Yahto takes a deep breath and continues, taking his first steps into the classroom…

* * *

Members of the Huntsclan gather in an abandoned warehouse at the pier in New York. A total of 15 or 20 members are there, all of them reporting in their results of the search for something, some of them even reporting their encounters against the protector of the mythical creatures of New York, the American Dragon.

"Still no sign of the dragon!" The Huntsmaster questions, looking down at his troops from one of the highest points of the warehouse, holding firmly to his specter.

"Huntsmaster!" One of the Hunsclan member steps forward, placing his left fist on the right side of his chest. "We have searched top and bottom of the city, other than the American Dragon and random mythical creatures sightings, we have not come across any signs of evidence of the-"

"Impossible!" The Huntsmaster spits out, interrupting the member's report, slowly walking to an item floating in mid air by his specter's magic, pointing at it with the specter, the item is a golden colored item what appears to be a scale, faintly glowing as a signal of its owner nearby. "This dragon scale is the key in finding that dragon! As the dragon is close the scale glows! There is no better evidence that the dragon is in this city somewhere!"

"But Huntsmaster-"

"Silence!" The Huntsmaster scolds, aiming his specter to the Huntsclan member who tired to speak. "No more excuses! Find the dragon and bring him to me at all costs! Dead or alive!"

* * *

Yahto is already half bored to death in his first day of school. This teacher, Professor Hans Rotwood, sounds pretty much like a total nutcase. What's this about fairies, trolls, goblins and dragons? It's like the teacher is living in a fairy tale and trying to suck them along with him. Yahto feels like he might drop to sleep at any moment here, biting away at his pencil's eraser as he slumps forward on his desk, his eyes half open. _Geez, is this guy nuts or what?_

Yahto rubs the eraser against his left cheek for a scratch, trying to keep his attention to the class…

_RING!_

_Aaah! Lunch time! Finally! _The class all rush out of the classroom to the cafeteria, Yahto couldn't keep his hunger at bay any longer as he jumps from his chair and to the door. But at his dismay he finds the school halls packed with students, Yahto could easily navigate around them all, but it'll take a while to get to the cafeteria, but he can only cringe as he pictures at how long the cafeteria line will be. Yahto gently shoved and worked his way through the crowd, sprinting down the halls, taking note of where the crowd heads to pinpoint the lunchroom. Though, something nags at the back of Yahto's head as he sprints down the halls, getting close to the lunchroom, and it wasn't until he placed his hand on the lunchroom doors that he remembered. _Oh no! My necklace!_

Yahto forgot about his necklace he stored in his backpack. Worrying about leaving a necklace behind isn't a bad thing, but Yahto is pretty much paranoid about leaving a personal belonging alone in a classroom where greedy and grubby students can just open it up and take it. Yahto has to go back. _This is gonna take a while…_

* * *

"C'mon Jake!" Trixie calls as she is about to step out of the classroom door. "Hurry up before the line gets swamped again!"

"In a minute guys!" Jake responds, glancing over to Trixie and Spud who are waiting at the doorway. He turns his attention back to his backpack, closing the zipper after putting all of his books back in it and taking out some spare change from the outer zipper just in case he needs them. Quickly he puts them into his pocket and runs out of the classroom; catching up to his buds and they all run down the hall to the lunchroom.

But a bit after they left the room, Yahto runs in, spotting his backpack on the floor next to his desk and walks over to it. He kneels down to it and opens the outer pack and rummages through the things. _Pencils…Eraser…Scissors…Ah!_

Yahto retracts his hand from the pack and his necklace along with it, letting it dangle in the bit of sunlight that comes into the room from the windows. He loves his necklace, and the beauty of it as it glitters in the sunlight is reason enough for him to take it anywhere. "Heheh…" He chuckles, slowly getting up, but soon the kid blinks. "…Huh?"

He could make out a glow coming from under the wristband from his left arm, he was about to remove the wristband when the glassed windows from behind suddenly shatter, causing the boy to suddenly turn around, facing the unknown. _What in the world…?_

Two dark-green clothed men stand there, in a stance ready for battle and self defense, one of them holding a glowing piece of what looks like a scale. Not knowing who they are, Yahto slowly backs away to the doorway, but the item seems to glow brighter with every move the kid makes, making the two men to glance at his direction, and not liking this one bit, Yahto turns around and runs out of the classroom. The two men, glancing at the item to spot it glowing with any move the boy makes, they make haste and charge out of the classroom and after the boy.

* * *

Jake and the gang were already making line for lunch when a commotion in the halls broke loose, talks and cries of two men vandalizing the halls and threatening to take out anyone who gets in their ways. The gang step out of the lunch line as the commotion moves in to the lunchroom, seeing food fly about and kids screaming and running for their lives.

"What the heck is going on!" Trixie cries as the lunchroom turns into a war zone as more of the black men from before jump in from the windows to join in the hunt.

"The huntsclan…" Jake mutters, glaring at their way.

"Yo Jake! I think you better dragon up and take care of this mess!"

"You're right Trixie!" Jake nods, starting to turn. "You guys try to evacuate the lunchroom!"

* * *

'_Geez! What do they want with me!'_

Yahto is hiding under a table, the necklace he took out from his backpack around his neck, wanting to believe it'll give him protection from the black clothed men who for some reason are following him. It couldn't be the necklace, could it? It was just a gift for him from his dad, all the way from Egypt in one of his trips a few weeks after Yahto was born. Yahto gulps as his hearts beats against his chest, holding his breath as three of the black clothed ninja men approaches the table, Yahto was only fooling himself hiding under the table would make him unseen by them. He has to get away now! _And it better be now!_

Yahto sees his opening and goes for it, he crawls from under the table and unto his feet, running away from the three men who were about to catch him. But as luck runs out for him, three more of them jump in front of him and blocks his path, forcing the boy to stop suddenly, loosing his footing and falling forward flat onto his stomach. His luck has ran out as the other three chasing him come up from behind, now surrounding the kid with six huntsclan members. _Oh no…Just my luck…_

And as strange as it is, that glow from under Yahto's wristband, where his birthmark resides, still hasn't stopped glowing in and out ever since he took out his necklace from his backpack, which he's now wearing around his neck…


	3. Day 1: First signs

Jake hides behind a corner in the lunchroom as he stays out of sight from the students running out of the lunchroom and out of sight from the Huntsclan members, waiting for the opportune moment to go Dragon and kick some Huntsclan butt. Trixie and Spud have done their part and made everyone to exit the lunchroom before the Huntsclan could do a thing to them, but the room is still with a few students and the Huntsclan members present aren't letting them have a proper escape. It's time to go Dragon.

"Dragon up!" Jake cries as he focuses deep the Dragon Power within, closing his eyes and concentrates on the transformation. His body is engulfed in flames, the fire taking the shape of a dragon, growing in height a couple of feet taller than Jake and sprouting wings. And with closing his fists and thrusting his elbows back close against his sides the flames are doused to reveal the red dragon with yellow scales from the neck down to his stomach and black hair with green tips. He is the American Dragon.

Jake jumps from behind the corner and onto a table, buying the attention of pretty much half of the Huntsclan members in the room. "Hah! American Dragon's in the house, yo! Time to clean up today's lunch scrap!"

Three Huntsclan members lunge in to attack the dragon, fists and kicks flying to go for the offense to the mighty fire breather, but Jake blocks and grabs a Huntsclan's kick and swings him around whacking away the other two Huntsclan members. Two more go in for the offense and throw their punches while Jake jumps to avoid one, kicks a hunter in the face and swing his mighty tail to strike the other attack; Jake Hah's, Yah's and Hooah's for every attack he dodges and performs. Jake gasps to see more Huntsclan members coming in from the lunchroom's windows, some of them with their green energy shooting staffs. "Aw man, can't you guys take a bre- Whoa!" Jake jumps off to one side of the table, flipping it up and using it as a shield from the energy shots of the staffs. Digging his claws into the table Jake lifts it up and throws it to the group of hunters in front of him, crushing them with the table and knocking them out, but more of them keep coming, clearly outnumbering Jake. However, the dragon has an idea and spits out a fireball onto his right hand, "Yo, how about we heat things up a little?"

A quick motion of his hand and flick of the wrist and the fireball is pitched into the direction of a group of hunters. While they take cover running away from the fireball, the ball hits its mark on a table, exploding the area and sending the table's remains around the room and setting the pieces ablaze; the flaming pieces fly and set ablaze the nearest tables and spreading it around the lunchroom, sending even more hunters a run for their lives, some of them even crawling out of the windows they got in from.

"Hahah! How do you like me now?" Jake taunts as he watches the hunters run from the flames and some of them escaping, but that little trick comes to a halt as the fire's smoke reaches up to the roof sprinklers and sets them off, showering the lunchroom with tons of water and dousing the flames.

"Awww maaan…" Jake groans as he himself gets soaked and seeing his fires getting doused, noticing some hunters coming back to try to finish the job. He backs away as some hunters stalk over to him, but the dragon takes up his courage and steps in, crossing his arms over his chest and opening them up whacking the gang of hunters in front of him away, sending them flying. One rushes in for a punch, but Jake lifts up his left arm and blocks it, countering with a right jab across the hunter's face. Another comes from behind with a staff, swinging it at Jake, but the dragon sees this just in time and turns 180 degrees, letting his tail to slam the hunter away followed by a jump kick at a hunter to his right. Jake brings up his right arm to block the incoming punch of a hunter, this time taking note of a small group of three hunters ganged up on a kid, probably intending on gaining a hostage, "Oh no you don't…" He mutters as he pushes the hunter away and takes flight, zig-zagging this way and that dodging the shots from the hunters' staffs.

"Yo, you three!" Jake cries as he comes for a landing near the three Huntsclan members, picking one up and throwing him to the other and whipping his tail to the remaining one, whacking him away.

* * *

Yahto's not liking his situation. He jus tripped and now he's surrounded by six mysterious people dressed in black. Yahto was starting to panic and even thought about fighting back whoever these guys are, but before he could react a commotion started on the other side of the lunchroom, forcing three of the men surrounding Yahto to leave the spot, leaving him to the other three.

"Hey, let me go!" Yahto demands as one of them grabs him by the arm and lifts him up, holding him tight so he would not run away. Yahto was in a bind, staring up at the man's eyes as he stares back down at him, and it seems his eyes are set on Yahto's necklace. Is he going to steal it? No way is he going to let that happen! Yahto struggles in the man's hold and elbows his stomach, causing the man to let go of him as he keels over, leaving time for the kid to run off. He manages to run past the two other men, but one of them throws a rope with a ball on each side at Yahto's legs and they tie up on his two legs and send him fall to the ground, "Gah!" Yahto lands hard on the ground, rubbing his chin as he tries to get up, but only to gasp as he sees his legs tied up. And what's more the men are already standing there ready to take him. Yahto could only stare, either they'd steal his necklace or take him away as a hostage for some terrorist operation. _This can't be happening…Help…Somebody…Anybody!_

Though that was in his mind, help did arrive! In the shape of a big red dragon…Wait, a dragon? Those mystical things that his homeroom teacher, Professor Hans Rotwood, fondly talked about in his class…Are real? No way! Yahto can't begin to understand how this dragon came out of nowhere and just kicked these three guys' butt right in front of him…Now the dragon is looking down at him. _Oh man oh man oh man…I am not going to be a snack for this guy!_

Thankfully enough the dragon just knelt down and quickly breaks the ropes around Yahto's legs and turns around to face the remaining black men in the room, as if protecting the child from them.

"You better get out of here, kid!" The dragon…Spoke? "These punks are really dangerous! So get off your butt and move it!"

"Uhh…Right." Yahto replies, unsure of how this dragon spoke but he can't take any chances on staying here and get caught again. Without a second thought he turns and runs toward the lunchroom doors, running through them and into the hallway. He looks both ways down and up the hallway, seeing the place deserted. They all must've evacuated the school…Or maybe not, Yahto spots some shadows at the end of the hall. Students must be still in the school. _I guess I'll get out the school with them then…_

"Hey guys!" Yahto calls out to them, "We gotta get out of here! The school's being attacked by…" Yahto slowly stops as the 'students' turn around the corner…More of those black clothed men! _Oh snap!_

Yahto turns and runs down the hall, surely the black clothed men following from behind. He breathes in and out heavily, his heart thumping rapidly against his chest and his necklace jingling around his neck from the run. He can feel his adrenaline building up, his blood flowing rapidly through his vein and sweat dotting his forehead as he runs down the hall, taking sharp corners in the halls and trying to run at full speed, his mind all in trying to lose these men or at least getting out where everyone surely are. "Whoa!" Yahto cries as he skids to a stop after a corner. He just reached a dead end.

"Oh no…" He mutters then to suddenly turn around as the footsteps become louder and louder until the men that were following him come into view, two men to be exact. Yahto backs up against the wall, his back pressed against it and stuck like a cornered rat, no escape in sight from the two men. And just when the two men take a dash toward the kid, Yahto gasps and freezes, his mind taking in a flash through time…

_A roundhouse kick…_

_An uppercut punch…_

_A flying kick…_

_Wall jumps…_

_A head butt…_

_Blocks, parries and counters…_

_All these and more…Performed by a powerful-looking dragon with gold scales…_

_It rears back a fist…And strikes!_

One of the two men cornering Yahto was sent flying back unto the ground. The other black clothed man watches his comrade flying back and unto the ground, slowly turning his head to Yahto, finding him with his left arm extended upward and his hand as a fist. While the man is shocked at the kid's sudden defense Yahto also finds this as bizarre as the man does. Now that he thinks about it, he realized he punched the guy in unison with the vision of the dragon throwing its own punch…But that doesn't make much sense at first…Yahto was never one to resolve anything in violence, nor has he ever gotten in a fight to know the precise moment to swing and send a man flying in pain like that…Now that he really thinks about it, when did he learned all these tactics and information he's suddenly 'remembering?'

The man stares at the kid before attacking, throwing a punch at him. However, something seemed to have ticked in Yahto's mind, triggering another hidden knowledge or memory that 'forces' him to lean back and to the side, dodging the punch. The man throws a low roundhouse kick but Yahto ducks under it and jumps from the quick sweep kick following the roundhouse. The man is puzzled. How can this kid be so agile and somehow so precise at dodging the attacks with such ease? Unless he underwent training, this feat is quite impressive for a 13 year old. Before the man could react the child, still in mid-air from that jump, makes a quick 360 and takes the man out with a spinning kick to the face, knocking him down along with his partner.

Yahto couldn't explain all this rush of Martial Arts knowledge all of a sudden. He has never taken Martial Arts classes before, nor had he any interest in taking them, and he just dodged punches and kicks and single-handedly took down two adult men who did trained in the art of Martial Arts. So where _did_ all these Martial Arts knowledge came to him all of a sudden? Yahto stands there breathing heavily, trying to comprehend the situation. Learning those moves and knowledge could've come from the sudden adrenaline rush from being cornered by these two men…No, that can't be it…he haven't taken any lessons for that kind of fighting… _And I better not stick around and get caught by more of these guys._

Right, no reason to stick around in this hallway anyway where he could be caught again…

Yahto starts his way down the hall away from the dead end, but as soon as he did he is stopped by a small pain on his left arm. A pain similar to a mosquito injecting its syringe-like needle into your skin as it begins to feed off the blood. He looks down just to see his wristband, a faint glow emitting from underneath it causes the boy to remove the band, revealing his birth mark glowing a faint gold glow. _What in the…?_

* * *

"Hah! Yah! C'mon, can't you guys take a break?" Jake frustratingly yells as he blocks and counters the Huntsclan hunters bent on hunting the dragon. For years this clan has been bent on hunting and catching the American Dragon, and it seems that they won't leave until they have the dragon in their captivity, which means, unfortunately, for Jake that as long as he lives and breathes he'll be on constant attacks every time he goes dragon. Jake catches an incoming punch from a hunter and throws him unto two of his comrades only to be replaced by three more. Some of them have retreated from that fireball attack, but some have stayed behind for the American Dragon. Jake jumps back to avoid a kick and leans against the wall, his chest heaving for breath as he tries to catch his breath from how tired he has grown during this battle, "Hahh…Hahh…Hahh…Man, these guys don't know when to quit…Hahh…I need to find my ticket out of this mess…" Jake looks to his right and finds a stack of lunch trays, and while it's not a best time to grab some lunch these would be great for some projectile offense. And at this time Jake would try anything to get these guys off his back.

"Yo, ninja heads!" Jake gets in position and he picks up the lunch trays and takes aim, "How about having a little lunch to go?" With that, Jake chops at every lunch tray piled up on his right hand and sends them flying at projectiles toward the Huntsclan hunters. One tray hits a hunter in the face while another gets it on his stomach. "Hahah! Is that all you guys can dish out?"

Jake felt a huge wave of arrogance flowing inside of him, making him do his trademark rap dance imitation, "You better give up yo, 'cause the American Dragon is kicking your butts!" His arrogant state, however, comes to an end as he steps on a lunch tray on the floor and slips off on the ground while making Jake fall back over the kitchen counter, "Hey! Whoa!" Jake lands on a box of chocolate pudding the lunch was serving as dessert, his tail flips back and knocks down a bowl of mashed potatoes and sending it falling right onto the dragon over his head, a big mess up for getting arrogant.

Even though this mess up could give the hunters time in regrouping and go quickly after the dragon, they see they've made enough damage and any further attempts would be stopped by the American Dragon, as usual, so they all recover from the fight and exit through the windows to leave and fight for another day.

As for Jake; the American Dragon lies there on the floor behind the counter with a huge bowl of mashed potato over his head with potato all over his shoulders, stomach and face, not to mention the whole mess of pudding he's lying on. "Aww man…" He moans as silence befalls in the lunch room after the hunters have fled. The dragon feels pretty embarrassed how it ended: The hero slips and falls on a box full of edibles and being covered in mashed potatoes while the bad guys have a safe escape. Yup, just another day to mark on how the American Dragon got his butt handed to him by the enemy or by himself.

Just when Jake takes off the bowl off his head, some running footsteps can be heard coming from the hallway, "Great…" Jake mutters, "Just messed up and now I gotta deal with the leftovers?"

The footsteps get louder until they suddenly stop at their loudest, "Hello?"

"Huh?" Jake blinks, recognizing that voice from before. "What's that kid doing here?" The voice is from the kid he saved from the two Huntsclan hunters a few minutes ago…

* * *

Yahto had decided to leave the thinking and theorizing until he has gone out of school and to safety from what's going down, if those two ninja men were after him there was no doubt in his mind that they were all after him. _But the question is why they were after me._

He couldn't stand around to figure that out, there are ninja people in the school going after him, a dragon fighting them off, and suddenly his wrist began to sting from where the birth mark is. If all of this is really happening for real, then everything that Professor Hans Rotwood has talked about was right. _Right…Next thing I'll know I'll be meeting a talking dog or little fairies, gotta stick to reality._

Yahto runs past the lunchroom doors, but something in him forces him to stop, realizing the deathly silence that has befallen in the room. Either the fight has ended, or something really bad has happened, namely the ninja men took out the dragon. Yahto knows he should just get out of here, but a feeling in his heart is telling him to check things out and see if the dragon is OK. After all, if it wasn't for the dragon he could've been taken away by them. _An attack of conscience…Of all the times it should show up…_

He sighs and walks into the lunchroom, and like he expected the room was empty. Wet, destroyed, burnt and some weapons lying around, but empty. _And no dragon…_

"Hello?" Yahto calls out. The call is a bad move; any of those men left over would've heard that and come after him, spelling trouble for him. But, has luck would have it, no one was left behind. The whole room is empty with nothing but a few police and ambulance sirens from outside and the almost inaudible mutters of the whole entire school body evacuated outside waiting for news on what happened to get to them. He cautiously walks into the room, footsteps splashing onto the puddles made from the sprinklers which were triggered from the dragon's fireball, not to mention his clothes are still damp from that incident. He looks to the right to see broken and burnt tables and a staff or two lying around, not a ninja in sight. He looks to the left, nothing but a wall and some lunch trays on the ground. Yahto sighs in relief as it seems the coast is clear, but something that sounded like a pantry smacking the ground causes him to turn to the lunchroom's counter.

"Who's there?" Yahto calls out only to have a moan be the answer to the question. It sounded too young to be another one of those ninjas, and whoever it is he sounds hurt, "Hey, you alright over there?"

The person behind the counter stands up and rubs his head as he leans over the counter with a groan. Mash potatoes reside all over the kid's hair and shoulder; he must've fallen over on food. _It's that kid._

Yahto has seen this kid before. They share the same homeroom and have spotted him just before entering the classroom. He cannot mistake him for another student, who else has green tips on their hair and wears a red jacket with yellow details on the shoulders and chest? "You alright?" Yahto rushes over to the counter, stopping as the kid walks around the counter to the other side, also noticing chocolate pudding all over his pants.

"Yeah, I'm alright…" The kid replies while rubbing his head, looking at Yahto. "What are you doing here, man? You should be outside along with everybody else."

Yahto scratches the back of his head, looking sorry for not doing so... _Wait a minute…Why am I sorry for that? He should've done the same thing!_

"I could say the same to you," Yahto comebacks, pointing at the kid, "What are _you_ doing here!"

"I uhhh…Umm…" The kid stammers as he brushes the mashed potatoes off his shoulders and hair, he stammers like he's trying to think of a good excuse. "Well uhhh…I…Was in…Line and then those…People came in through the windows and…" The kid stammers between sentences, forcing Yahto to raise an eyebrow at him, but then the kid just stopped and gave him a look. "Look, I don't have to tell you why I was here; I must've been knocked out during the attack and got thrown over the counter."

"Alright, I'm sorry," Yahto holds his hands up defensively as he takes a step back, a bit taken back and intimidated by the tone in the kid's voice. "I was just in here to see if I saw that dra-aag-aahh…" He stutters to stop the rest of his sentence. He's a new kid in this school and this is first day, would he really say that he saw a dragon and probably scar his reputation in just one day? He would be as crazy as Hans Rotwood, though right now he's not looking like a crazy man.

The kid in front of him just smirks, seeming as if he knows what Yahto is referring to. "Forget about it, man." The kid shakes his head, "Look, let's just get out of here before those guys decide to come back."

"Right," Yahto agrees and sprints to the lunchroom door and into the hallway, but before he takes a turn away from the door he stops and turns to the door, facing the kid who's still in the lunchroom. "Hey! I never caught your name!"

* * *

"Awww man…" Jake groans as he picks and picks mashed potato pieces out of his hair. Though he's glad to see the kid was alright and got away from the Huntsclan hunters, but he should've ran right out of the school, not down the hall and then back. However, the kid came back just to check if the dragon that saved him was alright. And while Jake couldn't tell him his secret about him being that dragon that saved him, it was nice to know that he came back to see if he made it through the fight.

"Hey! I never caught your name!"

"Huh?" Jake turns his head to the door where that kid is standing. Right, he never introduced himself before, and he knows this kid is new at school, that nutty professor Hans Rotwood introduced his class to. "It's Jake! Jake Long!"

"Jake Long, eh?" The kid echoes, committing to memory Jake's name. "Mine's Yahto!"

Jake looks on as Yahto sprints down the hall away from the doorway. "Yahto, huh?" Jake talks to himself, repeating the kid's name. "Sounds like a Native American name…" Jake dusts some dirt and food off his clothes and heads to the door…That is, until a little glow to his right gets his attention. "Huh?" He slowly heads to the glow, and up close he can see it coming from under a piece of a broken table. Jake studies the glow as he drops on his hands and knees for a closer look, seeing the glow is of a yellow…No, gold color. "What's this…?" He mutters as he lifts the table piece up, revealing what looks like a golden scale under the table, "A scale?"

* * *

"You what!" The Huntsmaster shouted. He is very displeased and angry that his hunters have not only failed to bring anything back from the hunt, but they also lost one of the scales! "How dare you lose something that precious!"

"Hu-Huntsmaster…" A trembling hunter speaks out, his legs trembling in fright. "Forgive us…We-"

"Silence!" Huntsmaster shouts as he turns around and aims his specter at the hunter who spoke, his red eyes narrowing even deeper with his anger building up. "Do you have any idea how precious that scale was to our hunt?" The hunters just look at each other then back at the Huntsmaster, they know the scale is to locate the dragon they're seeking, but how exactly was that scale precious to them?

Huntsmaster's glare softens, but still quite dangerous. "That scale belongs to the most mythical dragon of all…Born every 100 years to rule the skies and other dragons alike…The Millenium Dragon." Huntsmaster raises his specter into the sky and a hologram forms from the tip of the specter and up into the sky. Soon enough the hologram of a golden, tall and strong-looking dragon show up, and soon everyone begin to mutter and talk about this image of the dragon. They've seen the American Dragon and his mentor countless times, but this dragon makes those two seem like nothing. How does the Huntsmaster expect the Huntsclan to capture a dragon like that?

"However," Huntsmaster continues while gazing up at the hologram, "this dragon has tremendous power even the American Dragon can't hope to rival. Its sheer power shoves greed and arrogance into the dragon's heart, corrupting and using its powers for evil purposes. I have longed to get my hands on that dragon, and with its help I'd be able to hunt the dragons with ease and take over the mythical world!" The hologram projection fades out as the Huntsmaster lowers his specter to the ground. "And judging the amount of time passed since the last Millenium Dragon, it is time for the new Millenium Dragon to be born. That is why I send you all to find it before it realizes what it can do, so we can control it! But instead all I get from you are nothing but failures!"

All Huntsclan hunters practically bow their heads in shame of that last statement, but one of them gathers up the courage to step forward and speak. "Excuse me, Huntsmaster. With all due respect, but me and my men believe we have found the Millenium Dragon's human form."

"Really?" This news buys the Huntsmaster's attention, making him in stepping closer to the hunter, "Go on."

The Huntsclan hunter continues, "We invaded a school that the scale led us to, and inside we found a child that the scale reacted to. Also worth to add that the child was wearing a necklace around his neck which also reacted along with the scale we had in hand. We believe he is the one we've been searching for, the Millenium Dragon's human form."

"Interesting," Huntsmaster confesses, his glare softening a bit. "And you all say that the American Dragon was also present at that school?" Everyone nods at the Huntsmaster, making the situation much more entertaining. "Well done…Proceed with training and preparations, tomorrow we got a hunt to attend to…" The Huntsmaster turns away and starts his way to the back area of the meeting area. He made a big deal about the lost scale, but no matter, as that scale was just a chip off a much larger scale the Huntsmaster has in his possession. But now, he needs to go home, he believes a certain girl needs to attend at tomorrow's hunt…

* * *

Yahto gives a deep sigh as he opens the door to his room. Today was exhausting, that incident at school, the numerous interrogations from the officials that he and some chosen people who were in the lunchroom had to go through, him trying to figure out where that Martial Arts knowledge came from and why his birth mark glowed back there when he took down those two bad guys. Everything about today was just bizarre. He can still recall all the information he suddenly acquired about fighting back there when he was cornered; how to throw a roundhouse kick, how to time and throw an effective punch, it's as if the theory of reincarnation was true and he somehow gained knowledge from his past life.

Yahto also couldn't stop thinking about Jake. It was nice meeting someone at the new school and actually knowing his name, but after the interrogations he didn't see him again, not even the guy and girl he saw him with that morning. He hoped it wasn't just a quick meeting and then back to their corners without developing a friendship from beyond classmates, the last thing he needs is to spend a year at school without friends before actually developing a friendship with someone. He suffered that enough at the last school he was, where it took him a year or so before he actually opened up to his classmates and made friends with them. _Sometimes I feel I'm too shy for my own good…_

It's already 7 PM and Yahto doesn't feel like catching his favorite TV program. He just yawns and drops onto his bed face down, kicking his shoes off his feet before snuggling up onto his bed and burying his face on his pillow. He can feel his necklace prodding against his chest as he lies face down on the bed, making it an uncomfortable position to sleep in. But Yahto doesn't care; he's way too tired to be bothered with that, and cranky... _All I need is a good night's sleep…_

And off to sleep he did…Until his dreams are plagued by nightmares again.


	4. Day 2: A trip

A kid runs through a city ruined by miles of inextinguishable flames. Dodging and avoiding the flames as to not be burned to death by the extremely hot flames destroying the city. The kid trips on a rock and grinds the ground on his stomach, his clothes and face collecting dirt and ash from the infinite flames. He coughs as he gets up on his hands and knees, suddenly hearing an explosion that causes his head to rise to the heavens, spotting fireballs flying about from the explosion. He lets out a shriek as one fireball falls downward to his position, but he swiftly gets up and jumps out of the way, the ball of fire striking the ground with its unrivaled temperature and spreading into tiny fire pellets.

The kid backs off from the fireball's landing point as the fire from it seems to spread like a wall toward his direction, gaining in speed as it gets closer to the boy. He chooses not to stick around and turns tail, fleeing from the firewall. He gasps and breathes in choked breaths as he cannot breathe anything but smoke, punishing him with virtually no oxygen.

It wasn't until he passes by the remains of a toy store did the boy collapsed to his knees from breathing in so much oxygen, dropping on his hands next and cough his lungs out from breathing in so much. He weakly lifts his gaze forward to see a figure standing before him just five feet away. The figure approximately stands at 7-8 feet tall, broad shoulders and bulky legs and build, its wings proudly and widely opened on his back, its scales a gold color and glow.

The kid coughs again as his strength is zapped out of him from the smokes, this sound causing the dragon to slowly turn around to face the unfortunate boy. It looks down at the boy with no expression on its face, just a blank stare. The boy coughs again and looks up at the dragon in fear, his own gaze looking right in the dragon's eyes, both of them locked in a stare.

The boy feels an overwhelming sense…He blinks sharply once and stares at the dragon in fear, trying to gasp for breathe…

* * *

_The Millenium Dragon…A powerful and wonderful creature…_

_The problem…However…Is the wielder's will…_

* * *

_Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!_

Yahto slowly opens his eyes to a new day. Yawning widely as he sits up on his bed he stretches out his arms and bangs his fist on his alarm clock to stop its alarm feature.

"Man…" He mutters as he rubs his eyes and lean back on his bed, "A dream with that dragon again…First yesterday in school with a daydream now this…"

He slowly kicks the sheet off of him and turns his body over and sits on the edge of his bed, resting his elbows on his knees as he gazes at the ground, waiting for the drowsiness to subside and let his mind wander to other things rather than keeping it on the dream. He's sick and tired of having the same dream with the same dragon over and over. The thought of having the same dream again robs him of the desire to sleep again. _At least give me different dragons to dream of, maybe the one from yesterday…_

Yahto glances at the clock. It's just 7 AM, the usual time Yahto wakes up to get ready for school; though today he doesn't feel much like going. But he must; for his education and future. Plus, he might want to listen to Professor Hans Rotwood's class today; maybe that lunatic might know something about the dragon. _Maybe he isn't such a lunatic after all…_

A chirp from a bird outside his window catches Yahto's attention. He turns his head to the window behind him as a bird is perched on the window's protruded edge, singing in the morning sun. The bird's gentle song manages to shed a warm smile on Yahto's face…

* * *

**DAY 2**

* * *

The streets of New York are pretty calm for 4PM in the afternoon. People are still busy about in their work, just one hour away from that freedom they thrive for every afternoon. Along the 79th street in Manhattan's Upper West Side a bus stops at its usual bus stop, dropping off its passengers and picking up new passengers who wait at the bus stop for their familiar transportation vehicle. One of the people getting off the bus is Jake Long himself, and coming out the bus beside him is the comical grey Shar Pei dog, Fu.

"The next time that dirty mutt gets into my bus he better be on a leash!" The bus driver angrily shouts at Jake, his fist in the air.

"Dirty mutt?" Fu Dog reacts, quickly turning around and shaking his fist at the bus driver. "Listen here, pal! I may be a mutt but you have no right to-" He suddenly stops as a multitude of people are staring at him in awe and shock, none of them willing to believe that the dog just spoke English. Fu Dog and puts on cute puppy dog eyes and stands gracefully on all four paws, trying his best to look like any dog. "Uhhh…Woof woof." He barks.

Soon everyone shook it off as a trick of the mind and went on about their business, the bus driver closing the door of his bus and driving off with its passengers. Fu Dog sighs and turns to Jake, who seems to be quite embarrassed of this sudden predicament as his face is buried in the palm of his hands.

"Heheh, sorry kid," Fu Dog starts, "but you know what they say; a dog has to be a dog."

"You pushed another dog off its seat and tried to steal a lady's lunch." Jake recaps of the mischief Fu Dog did in the bus as he takes his hands off his face to look down at Fu.

"I had nowhere to sit." Fu complains. "Who does that dog think she is thinking she's all high and mighty to keep a seat all to herself!" he pauses as he sits down, "Besides, I was hungry and that hamburger was too big for that lady to eat herself."

Jake groans as he starts walking down the sidewalk, "I don't know why I even brought you along. I should've gone alone."

Fu gets up on all four and begins to follow alongside Jake. "I came along to help you with your homework. My intelligence is as huge as the ocean itself."

"I could've easily found the information I'm looking for at the museum, Fu." Jake remarks.

"Museums are overrated." Fu points out. "What bigger help other than a 600-year-old dog can a museum be?"

"We're not just going to any museum, Fu." Jake points out, "We're going to the American Museum of Natural History!" A corner later the duo finds themselves facing directly to the entrance of the humongous museum in New York, and possibly, the whole world. Four pillars are in the front of the museum, two on the left and right of the main door, a statue on top of every pillar. The museum is huge in both height and width. Even the main door is humongous in height. "This place has everything!" Jake continues.

"Meh, it's OK." Fu mumbles.

"Stop being jealous Fu and c'mon!" Jake cries as he takes off running to the museum. "We got so much to see in there and we only have one hour and thirty minutes until they close!"

Fu got up and took chase behind Jake. "I'm right behind ya, kid!"

* * *

The American Museum of Natural History is a landmark alright. A museum with four floors full of exhibits and a basement where the visitors can grab a bite to eat in the food court and depart from the museum in an underground train via the subway, yes the museum has its own subway station.

Right now a train has stopped in the station, the doors sliding open and small amount of people pouring out of the doors. A kid exits the train, a backpack strapped to his back, a dark-blue cap with a black backside on his head and a blue crystal necklace around his neck. He looks around the place in awe, impressed by just the first impressions of the museum. He smiles a bit as he takes a few steps away from the train and closer into the place. The men and women restrooms are to his right and the Big Dipper Café to his left, a café with the theme of our galaxy's Big Dipper. He stops for a moment at a Information boot in front of the café to pick up a map of the place, then continues on his way.

"Wow…" Yahto whispers in awe, stopping in front of the food court. "This place is incredible…" He opens the map he took from the Information boot and found his location on the map, finding himself even more impressed with the place. "And this is just the basement…Can't wait to get to the upper floors then." He can't forget the reason he's here though. The homework he received from fifth period. He has to gather good information on a couple of reptiles. _Let's see…Reptiles…reptiles…Ah-hah!_

He taps his finger on a box in the map with a grey silhouette of an alligator with the words 'Reptiles and Amphibians' over it on the third floor map of the place. "Gotcha…" He mutters. Now all he has to do is get up to the third floor.

"Elevator!" He pinpoints to himself on the map. He folds the map up and places it into the back pocket of his backpack and turns to his left, walking away from the entrance of the food court and, like the map says, an elevator is there. He presses the button to summon the elevator when suddenly his necklace begins giving off a small glow, a glow which startled him. "Huh…?"

He suddenly grimaces at a small sting on his left wrist. He retracts his arm and clutches the wrist, arching an eyebrow at this weird sudden little pain. It's just like the pain from yesterday during that incident at school with those weird ninja people. He still hasn't figured out why some of them chased them down, and frankly he doesn't think he wants to know why.

_DING!_

The ding brings his attention back to reality as the elevator door opens, revealing its passengers inside. Courteously, Yahto steps aside to allow the people to walk out of the elevator, and soon enough it was empty and Yahto walks into it, luckily the only person in the elevator as the door closes.

"Alright…Level 3…" He tells himself as he reaches over and presses the button with the number 3 on it, and soon the gravity inside the elevator unnoticeably increases as it slowly but surely elevates to the floors above, a soothing and low hum starts as it elevates. Yahto glances up at the floor counters above the doorway. The number "1" is highlighted as the elevator reaches the first floor. It continues climbing without pause. The number "2" is highlighted. Again it continues without pause. This time, however, the necklace flickers a bright glow and again the boy's left wrist hurts, this time a bit more intense.

"Gah!" He cries a bit as he clutches his wrist; the pain subsides but leaves behind a burning sensation. He looks at his wrist, which is covered over by his wristband and a slight glow is seen below the wristband before it dies out along with the glow of his necklace. The previous pain irritated him; this sudden feeling of anger just erupts in his mind, the urge to take any power he could and abuse it in causing destruction and despair. A feeling he has never felt before. A feeling so strong that he could barely hold it back…

_DING!_

The sudden ding knocks him back to reality as he throws his head up to the counter. The number "3" is highlighted and the elevator's doors slide open. He is immediately greeted to a wall with a sign as he walks out of the elevator. The sign has a red arrow pointing to Yahto's right with the words "Amphibians and Reptiles" above the arrow. Yahto shakes off the burning sensation, and of course the weird feeling of going senile on everything he sees, and turns to his right. Another wall up ahead greets him with another sign with an arrow, this time pointing to the left with the words "Amphibians and Reptiles".

"Guess this is it…" Yahto mutters as he follows the arrows to the exhibit, and just when he turns the corner…

_BAM!_

"Oof!"

"Whoa!"

Yahto just walked into somebody and they both drop to the ground. Yahto fell backwards onto his behind, his cap drooped over his eyes and covering his view of who he just walked into.

"Hey! Watch where you're going, you little…Uhh…Woof!"

Yahto shakes his head and grabs the lid of his cap and pulls it up and out of his eyes. "I'm sorry, should've watched where I was go-" He suddenly stops as his eyes are set on the person he just walked into. "Jake?"

* * *

"Jeez kid, this museum is something else." Fu Dog compliments the place as both he and Jake walk through the main entrance.

"You got that right." Jake nods, "This museum is practically the biggest one in New York. It's a landmark!"

"Yeah yeah," Fu mumbles as the duo stop in the middle of the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall, a hall dedicated to the 26th president of the United States of America. Straight ahead of them lies the North American Mammals hall, to their left the Halls of Biodiversity and to their right the Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth. "So, where to now?"

"We're going to the Reptiles and Amphibians hall on the third floor," Jake instructs as he walks north and turns left, facing the stairs to the second floor. "gotta gather some good info on the komodo dragon and crocodile for tomorrow."

"The komodo dragon?" Fu echoes, "Aw c'mon, kid. You could've asked me that! I know more about them than any museum!" He stopped from climbing the stairs to bear his teeth to match the following, "Their sharp teeth," he lifts his paws to try to show his claws as a threat, "their sharp claws," and then finishes with an attempt to wag his tail, "and their strong tail! I know more about them than a komodo itself! Egugu!" He giggles his trademark giggle.

Though Jake groans as he slaps his face, not taking Fu's remark of his knowledge about the reptile seriously, "Look, I just wanna have a good score on this homework. All this dragon business has been wrecking my grades enough as it is. Plus, I thought you were busy with the scale I brought yesterday."

They were greeted by a wall when they reach the second floor. On the wall in front of them were a row of about four payphones and an automated teller machine. To their right lie the Museum Gift Shop and their left the hallway to get to the Asian Mammals hall. They turn a corner to get to the next set of stairs that'll take them to the third floor, but before they would get close to them Jake stops. "And speaking about the scale," he starts, looking down at Fu, "have you found out anything about it?"

Fu stops and looks up at Jake, a disappointed look in his wrinkly face. "Well kid, to tell you the truth I'm not finding out anything about it…" He continues as they continue up their way to the set of stairs to the third floor. "But there was something about it. It gave me the creeps, kid. And every time I look at it I feel like I've seen it before…Just can't put my paw on it."

"Weird…" Jake mutters, "You know, I kind of felt the exact same thing when I was carrying it back to the shop…"

"What?" Fu exclaims, stopping his climb. "Are you serious here, kid?"

"I'm dead serious," Jake nods at Fu as they both continue their climb, almost nearing the top. "I felt it in my heart…I don't know, felt like a burning sensation…I thought it might've been heart burn but the minute I let go of it I felt fine…"

"Hmm…I don't like this…" Fu admits, "This is all sounding way too familiar to me. It's scary."

_BAM!_

"Oof!"

"Whoa!"

The moment they touched foot on the third floor someone from Jake's right bumped right onto him and knocks him down onto his side, nearly missing Fu. Jake's elbow helped in breaking his fall, but landing on his elbow just jolts pain up his left arm and through his shoulder blades.

Fu Dog turns to the person at fault, shaking his fist at him. "Hey! Watch where you're going, you little-" Though the dog didn't realize how dangerously close the person is. He drops his fist and sits on his rump, trying to look like a dog. "Uhh…Woof!"

The person groans. "I'm sorry, should've watched where I was go…Jake?"

"Huh?" Jake blinks as he sits up to rub his shoulder. He looks at the person who just said his name and gasps a bit. The person who bumped into him dons the familiar blue shirt, black baggy jeans, black and blue sneakers and wristband on his left arm. The only new attire though is a dark-blue cap. "Yahto? What are you doing here?"

The kid, Yahto, scratches the back of his head before replying. "Well I uhh…Came to check this museum out…Heard that it had an exhibit about our homework for tomorrow and thought why not kill two birds with one stone?"

"Oh, so you're here for the home work too just like me?" Jake smiled as he picked himself up, finally, someone to talk to in public who doesn't have to bark to fit in, and certainly not wait until the coast is clear to talk neither. "Cool, we can go together!"

Yahto looks at Jake and smiles. "Really? You'd go with me?"

Jake nods. "Sure, why not?"

Yahto nods and grins, "Alright then, let's go!"

* * *

Just outside of the American Museum of Natural History, on top of a roof, stand two hunters of the Huntsclan, one of them holding a circular-shaped object. The object is slightly glowing a gold color, though a glow too weak to be considered noticeable.

The Huntsclan hunter looks at the one holding the scale. The item is glowing, but not as much as they would have hoped. But it does mean something: What they are looking for is somewhere close by.

"Has the dragon been located?" The Huntsmaster approaches from behind them, and from the look of his glowing red eyes he is not too happy. He gave these two hunters the job of carrying the scale and following its glowing reaction to track down the creature they're searching for, but so far their performance in tracking it down has been nothing but unsatisfying, which has gotten the Huntsmaster infuriating. Right now he's losing his patience at these two not giving him an answer. "Well?"

The hunters seem to be hesitant in their answer, but a sudden glow from the scale has given them a reassurance to give in their report to them. The one who's not holding the scale turns to the Huntsmaster. "Sir, we believe it might be in that museum up ahead."

The Huntsmaster's glowing red eyes turn into slits from the deeper glare he's surely making, making the hunter flinch. He lifts his head to the museum up ahead after intimidating the hunter, "Ahhh…The American Museum of Natural History…"

Just as huge as it is inside the museum is huge from the outside, extending a good range from the sides to show off the museum's huge structure. Four pillars in the front, two on the left and right of the main door, a statue on top of every pillar. The view itself is marvelous; no wonder it is a landmark…

"Hold position until dusk!" The Huntsmaster shouts to his troops, staring at the museum. "We'll wait until night fall when the dragon comes out to make our move…"

As evil as the Huntsclan can and may be, sometimes they prefer their hunts by night. Fewer distractions the better…

* * *

"Awesome…" Yahto whispers as he stands right at the entrance of the Reptiles and Amphibians hall. On his left and right lie displays of realistic dioramas. Realistic displays of crocodiles, alligators, komodo dragons, lizards, anything reptilian and amphibian. For a second there he thought they were for real.

Jake had already walked deeper ahead in the hall along with his dog to check the rest of the dioramas while Yahto takes his time in the hall looking at each diorama, admiring their realism and accurate anatomy and habitat. Yahto approaches a diorama of what seems a replica of an underwater habitat with a couple of realistic turtle dioramas, the snout of the turtle resembling a beak and four small sharp claws on the turtle's feet and front feet.

"The Alligator Snapping Turtle…" Yahto reads the plaque in front of the display, "The largest freshwater turtles. Weighing between 155 and 175 pounds, they are characterized by three large, pronounced ridges, or keels, that run from the front to the back of the carapace…" Yahto looks again at the turtle diorama, admiring the prehistoric-like look the turtle has, quickly shifting his mind to dinosaurs, the mightiest creatures that ruled the planet millions of years ago. _I should make a stop in their hall if there's time afterwards._

Yahto continues along by the different dioramas in the hall, stopping to look at a diorama of a snake. The snake seems to be about 12 feet long, tan in color with dark crossbands. "Boa Constrictor…" He reads the snake's name on the information plaque. He continues down the hall and finally finds a crocodile for his homework, "The Cuban Crocodile?" Yahto reads the crocodile's name on the plague. He looks at the crocodile's diorama and immediately knew it was the one for him.

Pulling a notebook out of his backpack he begins to read and write down any information on the crocodile's plague of info. The number of teeth, the length of how it can grow to become, the anatomy, their ways of life, diet, life span, anything valuable to learn from them. Yahto learned a lot about this crocodile in just the 15 minutes he's spent reading and writing the bio down. "They can grow up to be as long as 13 feet…66 to 68 teeth…Whoa, they sound like tough animals…" Yahto stops and looks at what he has written. More than half the page has been written about the Cuban Crocodile; seems plausible enough to get a perfect score for homework. Yahto put his notebook away in his backpack when…

"_Attention all visitors of the American Museum of Natural History," _The voice of a young lady announces through the museum's intercom system, _"The museum will be closed in just one hour, please make the necessary procedures to complete your visit experience to the museum. Those who are also interested in the revelation of our newest addition to the Saurischian Dinosaurs hall please head to the respective hall on the fourth floor in twenty minutes. That is all."_

"A new addition?" Yahto asks himself, "Sounds promising…"

* * *

It didn't take long for Jake, Fu and their new companion, Yahto, to get to the Reptiles and Amphibians hall; they were just a corner and a walk away from it.

Fu Dog was uncomfortably following Jake around the hall as the boy zigs and zags from diorama to diorama, admiring the details in each one and taking notes of different crocodiles and alligators he can find. Fu Dog is already getting dizzy of all this following, but he is not uncomfortable about all this movement though.

"Settle down, kid…" Fu finally speaks after Jake stops at the Komodo dragon diorama. The dog collapses on the ground next to Jake's feet and pants, "You're running me ragged all over the place here!"

"Sorry, Fu." Jake apologizes as he writes notes and information on his notebook from all the reptiles and amphibians in the hall, "But I really need the extra credit, this is a good opportunity to get my grade up."

Fu Dog gets up on all fours and rubs his head, "Well you could've at least slow down so I could keep up." He looks around the hall as people roam around in it, gazing and admiring each of the dioramas. Some of them taking pictures, others taking notes, and others just gazing and looking. Fu Dog stops looking around as his eyes find Yahto…He doesn't know why, but the kid gives him the creeps. He can't put his paw on it, but there's something about him…A feeling…A feeling that he's felt before…

"Umm…Kid?" Fu begins, "Haven't you noticed anything strange from your friend?"

Jake stops writing on his notebook and looks at Fu, "Other than always wearing that necklace all the time, not really." He thinks for a second. No, that's not true. "And…Well…His eyes; I don't know, but isn't it unnatural for a guy to have red eyes like that? I mean, if he's wearing contacts, then that's a weird choice for contacts."

"I don't think they're contacts, kid." Fu replies. "There might be something odd about him. I mean, there's something about him…It just makes me uncomfortable."

"Maybe you're putting way too much thought into it, Fu." Jake assures him, the eraser of his pencil pointed right at him. "Maybe taking that bite out of that lady's hamburger in the bus finally caught up with you."

"Are you kidding!" Fu remarks, "I may be 600 years old, but my stomach is as resistant and strong as it was when I was younger and hipper! Egugu!" He gives off again his famous yet annoying giggle.

"_Attention all visitors of the American Museum of Natural History," _The voice of a young lady announces through the museum's intercom system, _"The museum will be closed in just one hour, please make the necessary procedures to complete your visit experience to the museum. Those who are also interested in the revelation of our newest addition to the Saurischian Dinosaurs hall please head to the respective hall on the fourth floor in twenty minutes. That is all."_

"A new addition to the dinosaur exhibit?" Jake recalls, echoing the message the woman through the intercom delivered. He grins and looks down at Fu, "Sounds cool! How about we go check it out?"

"Aw man!" Fu moans, "You mean head up all the way to the fourth floor just to see something new being put in a box? No way, kid! I'm going home!"

"Too bad, Fu." Jake grabs Fu by his collar and proceeds to drag him off out of the Reptiles and Amphibians hall, "You can't board a bus without me, and it's a long walk back home."

"Jake, no, please, don't!" Fu complains as he practically claws at the carpeted floor, trying desperately to break out of Jake's grip, "I don't feel like going up there! I wanna go home and enjoy my warm comfy beanbag bed for the rest of the night!"

Jake was glad the hall is practically empty due to all the people leaving to check out the new addition to the dinosaur exhibit, otherwise he would've gotten some very strange looks right about now to a kid dragging his whimpering dog out of the room and up a floor. Although, Yahto is already looking at him and giving him a weird look.

"Umm…" Yahto starts, "Is your dog okay?"

Jake tries to bring an excuse to cover this rather weird picture. "Just…Disturbed from so many reptiles in one room, heheh…Ehh…"


	5. Day 2: Transformation

Jake Long and Yahto were on their way up the stairs from the fourth to the fifth floor. Just a few minutes ago they announced a new exhibit being revealed in the Saurischian Dinosaurs section of the final floor, and while they were there why not go check it out.

C'mon," Yahto told to Jake as he takes the lead, just about halfway up the stairs. "They're gonna show the new exhibit any minute now!"

Jake brings up the rear along with Fu Dog, who hasn't been quite cooperative with the ascend of the stairs. C'mon Fu, hurry it up!" Jake hurries as he stops for the dog to catch up. "We're gonna miss it."

Fu manages to catch up to the young boy with pants and gasps for breath. "Hahh…hahh…Take it easy, kid. I'm not as young as I used to be."

"C'mon Fu, that's the oldest excuse in the book!" Jake comments as he continues ascending the stairs. Looking up he sees the end of the stairs and greeted with a sign pointing toward where to go for the Saurischian Dinosaurs section. After getting to the top and turning toward said direction he bumps into Yahto. "Yo, what's the hold up?" He inquires. But just like looking over Yahto he gets the answer by himself. "Ah maaaaan…" He groans at what he sees. The section is crowed by hundreds of people waiting eagerly for the new exhibit, it's like as if the whole museum decided to see this. Being way in the back, they would hardly see the new exhibit; if they can see anything from the position they're in.

Yahto was trying in vain to look over the crowd, even going as far as climbing on top of a railing to gain some height to look over the audience. Jake takes notice of Yahto's struggle to see, "See anything?"

Yahto shakes his head with a grunt and jumps down the rail. "Nothing, just heads bobbing back and forth." He looks back at the crowd, there has to be a way to get through them. If he can't look over or can't get around them, then he would just have to go through them. "C'mon." Yahto pushes himself into the crowd, squeezing in-between people as he slowly makes his way to the front.

"Yo, wait up!" Jake shouts as Yahto takes the lead into the crowd. Shrugging at Fu he follows Yahto into the crowd, slowly but surely squeezing in through the crowd trying to make it to the front. Luckily they're kids otherwise it would cause a riot about them cutting in front.

"Excuse me, pardon me, let me squeeze through here, I'm sorry." Yahto was slowly making his way to the front, making tight squeezes through people and slightly pushing others out of the way to make his way forward, and after squeezing through two more people he finally he makes it to the front. He adjusts his hat a bit and looks at the exhibit in front of him, happy to see he made it just in time; the exhibit hasn't been unveiled yet. "Aaah, just in time too." He looks around to see if Jake made it to the front. "Jake?"

"Welcome everyone to the Saurischian Dinosaurs department here in the American Museum of Natural History!" Too late to try to find him, the unveiling has begun as an excited-looking employee has walked out from behind the covered exhibit, welcoming the audience. "I am pleased to see such a huge audience anticipating the premier of our newest exhibit here in the Saurischian Dinosaurs department." The hostess smiles and looks to her left. "Isn't that right, Tom?"

A male employee pops out from behind the covered exhibit, giving the crowd a warm smile. "That's right, Lilia! What we have in store for you will undeniably amaze you! For years we have worked hard to build this department up into the majestic attraction you see today. To shower you all with knowledge of the creatures who have dominated our planet millions of years ago!"

"Everyday we learn something new from these majestic creatures!" The female employee, Lilia, continues. "But recently, an item has been discovered that has even puzzled the experts of the Jurassic Era."

"An item first of its kind!" The male employee, Tom, adds. "And we have it here as our brand new exhibit!"

Yahto's eyes were already beaming from anticipation, this new exhibit sounds promising. What could it be though? What new item has surfaced that has baffled even the most experienced experts? Yahto leans forward as the employees get ready to pull the cover off the exhibit, but as they get ready for that the whole crowd are roused and inches forward, crushing Yahto a bit between the people as they all slightly push forward. "Agh! Hey!" He complains as he nearly gets squished between two anticipating people.

"And now," Lilia announces as both her and Tom are about to pull the covers off. "we proudly present the newest addition to the department!" The two pull the cover off, leaving everyone to gasp in awe at what they see. Yahto manages to push himself forward to where he was and gasps in awe as well.

The exhibit is a collection of three scales. Three yellow scales nearly the size of a human head, and not only that but they seem to be glittering in the exhibit spotlight. The items were of wonderful beauty. Yahto frowns, for some odd reason those items look rather familiar. Just a feeling he has that he cannot explain. "Huh? Hey! Waaah! Stop pushing! Aaah!" Suddenly Yahto was pushed back from the rousing crowd as they all try to get closer to take pictures of the new exhibit. Yahto never stood a chance against the adult current going forward.

"These scales have been discovered deep underground in the deserts of Egypt." Lilia explained to the crowd about the scales' history. "It was then sent here to the experts to study its properties and signatures. The scales are about 1000 years old and have miraculously kept their glow intact. The scientists have concluded these scales are of a rare kind of hide they have never seen before, a kind of hide that glitters in sunlight."

"It's one of a kind indeed, Lilia." Tom continues. "It is the first of its kind in recorded history ever to be found. It gives us great honor to host it in our museum!"

Yahto was already out of the crowd as the employees continued, he was almost crushed in there and he was not willing to go back in there just to see three beautiful scales on display, not worth almost getting crushed. He fixes his hat and takes notice of his necklace, once again giving off a faint glow like yesterday. Curious, he takes off his necklace and looks at it as it glows. Turning to the crowd and aiming the necklace toward them he's surprised to see the glow intensify a bit. Maybe…Nah, it couldn't be…

Yahto puts his necklace back around his neck and looks around for Jake; he still hasn't seen him ever since they got into the crowd to get to the front. _He must still be in the crowd up front…_

* * *

"And now, we proudly present the newest addition to the department!"

Jake and Fu made it to the front by the time the new exhibit was revealed. It took Jake by surprise at what the new exhibit was; the three scales on display looked similar to the scale he found at the school lunch room yesterday, with the same glow and everything.

"No way…" He mutters as he turns around to get out of the crowd, just in time too as the crowd just begun to get roused up about the exhibit and pushing forward to take pictures and a better look of the new item in display.

"Fu, didn't those look like the one I found yesterday?" Jake inquires as both he and Fu turn a corner to a lonely area on the fifth floor, nobody to see or hear them.

Fu sits down as he looks up at the kid. "To tell you the truth kid, I think those _are _like the one you brought home."

"Heh, no way, Fu." Jake responds. "I mean, it couldn't be. They said they found those scales in the middle of nowhere in Egypt. How can they possibly be related to the scale we have in any way?"

Fu shudders. "I don't know kid, but it creeps me out. There's just something about them that's familiar, like the one you brought home yesterday."

"You think it might be from a mythical creature?"

"I don't have any doubts about it, kid."

Jake sighs. No matter where he goes he just cannot escape the grasp of his American Dragon job. If it's not the Huntsclan it's a mythical creature gone on a riot or something mythical falling in the hands of the unaware humans. "So what do you want me to do? Wait 'till its night for me to sneak in here and take the scales from right under their noses?"

Fu shakes his head. "Nah, not until we figure out completely what the scales are. If they hold any danger to whoever holds it, we won't have any other option but to take it."

"All right all right, chill." Jake jokes as he holds up his hands defensively at Fu who is giving him a look. "If anything goes down with these scales you can count on the Am-Drag here to take care of the situation."

Fu arches an eyebrow at the kid. "Uh-huh, good and dandy kid, but what about your friend?"

Jake blinks. "Huh? Oh, right! Yahto!" He looks back at the department to spot his classmate standing there looking at the crowd, probably looking for him. "Yo, Yahto!"

* * *

The bus trip back home was rather quiet between the two classmates. Yahto sits on the other side of the bus from Jake as he looks out the window, seeing the city of New York scroll past him as the bus is in motion. He was still puzzled by his necklace glowing, especially when aimed to the scales at the museum. It was all strange, like something out of Rotwood's classes. Yahto rubs his eyes in annoyance; they have been irritating him since he left the museum with Jake and his dog. He subconsciously scratches his wrist under his wristband where the birthmark is; like his eyes the birthmark has been irritating him since departing the museum.  
'_Note to self: Search the library and/or internet about this.'_

The brakes suddenly screech as the bus slowly comes to a stop. The sound startles Yahto as he sits upright and bobbles his head back and forth seeing the scenery slowing down, seeing the bus station on his side of the window.  
'_OK, this isn't the street I had in mind.'_

"Yo, what's the hold up?" Jake asks to the driver as he stands up from his seat.

"I'm sorry kid, but this is the end of the line for this bus line." The driver announces. "You'll just have to wait at the station for the next bus to take you to your destination."

"Of all the rotten luck…" Jake mutters to himself. "All right, let's go then."

Yahto looks out the window from the other side, recognizing the layout of the street and the park that's just a couple of blocks away, his house isn't far from there. Although as for Jake, the kid doesn't know how far he lives from the park. He looks at Jake already seeing him getting off, which he should do right now. He exits the bus and looks around the street, seeing the crimson sky as the sun is nearly setting and the moon getting ready to show its face. He adjusts his backpack with a sigh and looks at Jake. "Well, I can walk to home from here. I guess you'll stay here to catch the bus home?"

Jake shrugs. "Nah, I'm not sticking around another half hour to catch a bus to go home." He approaches Yahto and walks past him. "Let's just walk home together, no point in going our separate ways here."

"Yeah…OK." Yahto agrees with a hint of shyness in his voice. The boy still isn't pretty good expressing himself when around people. And being around someone he barely knows, he pretty much keeps his head down a bit. It's going to take a bit of time for him to adjust as he makes new friends.

* * *

Jake's mind was still set on those scales he saw back at the museum. It was just bugging him for some reason. Not because they look like the one he brought to his grandpa's shop from the Huntsclan attack at school, but from what they belong to, what they can do, and if they can be potentially dangerous. It's gotta be something bad if he caught the Huntsclan with a scale of their own. Heck, the Huntsclan do their hunts and attacks to mythical creatures and they often tend to do it secluded from human eyes, why would they all of a sudden go for the attack at school?

Jake had a horrid thought. What if somehow the scale can tell them about any dragons nearby? What if the Huntsclan learned his secret of being the American Dragon by using the thing? Jake shakes his head. Nah, it couldn't have. If it did then they all would've ganged up on him yesterday in no time. Not all of them focused on him like they all should've if they knew their target right away. To be more precise they looked more like they were…Well, looking for something else.

Jake turns his head to his right, looking at Yahto. There haven't been any attempts at conversation between them ever since they left the bus station. Fu is pretty much taking the lead just a few steps in front of them as they walk through the rather deserted park, nightfall just a few minutes away.

"So…" Jake tries to make conversation. "Ummm…You got any hobbies?"

"Sort of…" Yahto answers. "I'm really into videogames, a bit of basketball. Oh, and I do a bit of skating as well."

"Awesome! You skateboard!"

"Uhhh, no. Roller skates."

"Oh. That's still cool."

Jake stops walking as he witnesses Yahto sigh with his head slightly down. He can tell the kid has a lot on his mind.

"Listen, Jake…I'm sorry but I'm just no good at introductions and first impressions…I kind of always have this problem every time I'm somewhere new…" He scratches the back of his head as his eyes still refuse to make eye contact. "I'm just no good at this…"

Jake nods with a slight smirk and shrugs. "Yo man, chill. It's cool. I know how the pressure can be. It's no cake walk with newbies in new cities. Just be yourself."

Yahto blinks and looks up at the darkening skies…

Fu stops as he hears the footsteps coming to an end. He turns around just to see the two youths talking. "Now this is just great…" He mumbles. "Just when I thought I was going to that comfy, warm bed of mine sooner than thought…"

* * *

"Yo man, chill. It's cool. I know how the pressure can be. It's no cake walk with newbies in new cities. Just be yourself."

Yahto blinks and looks up at the darkening skies, replaying what Jake just told him in his mind, reminding him of his past when he was 6 years old. "Just be myself…" He echoes. "That's something I've always told myself…It has always been my slogan so to speak…"

"Has been?" Jake inquires.

"Um, well it still is." Yahto sighs as the memories come back to him, back when he was younger and lived back in his hometown. "It's just…Well, sometimes I stray off…" He continues as he walks toward a bench.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's just I've had it pretty hard…" Yahto continues as he sits down on the bench and grabs a long stick from the ground. "I mean, maybe it's just me but I've had it pretty tough trying to fit in…Back at the old school I used to go to everyone seems to follow a trend or two…And it's either follow it or you're by yourself…"

Jake frowns as he approaches the bench and sits down next to Yahto. "Yikes, that's pretty harsh."

Yahto sighs as the memories come back. He absently doodles on the dirt with the stick as he continues. "Because of them I found myself straying off from being myself, trying to follow the trends and being someone I'm not just to fit in…And it wasn't until three good friends of mine to bring me back on track during the last two years."

Jake tilts his head a bit and blinks. "Umm…The last two years?"

Yahto lifts his head. That's right, he hasn't told anybody yet that he just moved there. "Oh, right. Well, I just moved here to New York. About four days ago." He stands up and chucks the stick away before moving his gaze up to the darkening sky. "And just when I finally got settled and things were going great; my dad got moved to some a lab here in New York where he received a letter that he's needed over here."

Jake winces a bit. "You mean after all those years when you're finally adjusting, something comes and robs you of all of that? Man, that's so frustrating." Jake slightly tilts his head as he scratches his scalp, thinking for a split second. "Uhhh…What does your dad work on anyway?"

"Aah, he's an archeologist."

* * *

"It's just…Well, sometimes I stray off…"

"What do you mean?"

Fu Dog rolls his eyes; he wants to go home already! He turns around and keeps going, if Jake wants him he can find him back at the shop. He just wants to get on his warm bed and snuggle in it before calling it a day and snoozing off. "Talk talk talk, that's all they do. All I want is my cozy little bed!" He grumbles as he continues his walk through the park, passing by trees. "What's a 600-year-old dog have to do around here to get what he wants as simple as to go home!"

Fu scoffed a bit before stopping in his tracks at the sound of rustling from the trees around him. His head turned left and right as his good hearing picked up rustlings in the trees here and there, his old yet strong heart starting to beat rapidly against his chest as fear begins to settle onto him. A good wif of the air around him quickly catches the familiar scent…

"Oh no…" Fu says to himself. "It can't be…Kid!" He turns tail and quickly flees back to where he came from. Running as fast as his four legs can take him; Fu zooms back to the two kids and runs right past them.

"What the heck? Fu?" Jake blinks after barely catching the sight of his talking dog running past them. Looking over his shoulder he sees Fu skidding to a stop and hiding behind a tree before he peeks out and motions his head at Jake to come over. Jake grimaces a bit before facing Yahto as he backs away toward Fu. "Uhhh…I'll just go check up on my dog, see whatever spooked him, heheh…Eh…"  
'_Smooth Jake…Not!'_  
Jake turns and walks over to Fu who's hiding behind a few trees. He glances back at Yahto before talking with Fu; he has a secret to maintain after all. "Yo Fu, what's up? You just zoomed right past us as if your tail was on fire."

"Kid, we got problems!" Fu exclaims rather quickly as he's shivering against tree, the look of fear in his wrinkly face. "I think the Huntsclan is nearby!"

Jake was taken back. "Say what?"

"You heard me, kid! The Huntsclan!"

"No no no no no." Jake repeated for a good two seconds as he shook his head while clutching it with his hands, unable to believe this. "This is the worst time! I can't just up and ditch Yahto!"

"Well you just can't ignore them, kid! It's your job as the American Dragon!"

"I know I know…" Jake groans with a sigh. "I guess I better get started then. Try to keep Yahto company and just stall in any way you can, got it?"

"Leave it to me, kid." Fu nods and then takes off toward Yahto. Jake sighs as he sprints away from them, he was hoping he didn't have to face with anything today, not after yesterday how he messed up and let the Huntsclan get away. Jake stops after going a bit of ways into the park and looked around, deserted. Perfect.

"Dragon up!" Jake cries as he throws his arms to the side and focuses deep the Dragon Power within, closing his eyes and concentrating on the transformation. Flames engulf his body as his height increases up to around 7 feet, his arms and legs grow longer and bulkier as his chest and torso expands, a strong tail forms as wings sprout from his back. His head was next as it changes to the shape of a dragon's head as his black spiky hair changes to green spikes from the top of his head down his back and tip of his tail and sharp claws arm his fingers and toes.

Now fully transformed, Jake looks around with his dragon eyes, their infrared dragon power scanning the cool area for any heat sources scouring around. He finds no activity, which makes him growl to himself. "C'mon, I know you're out there!" Jake challenges as he stomps his left foot on the ground. "I can take you all with one arm tied behind my back! C'mon, show me what you got!" Little does he realize he's been targeted from behind as he speaks…

_ZAP!_

"Gaaarrgh!"

* * *

"What the heck? Fu?"

Yahto was taken by surprise as well when Jake's dog suddenly ran past them like a hyperactive dog. The mere attempt of trying to follow the dog with his eyes made him dizzy, and he wasn't about to barf right then and there.

Yahto looks over at Jake as he starts stuttering. "Uhhh…I'll just go check up on my dog, see whatever spooked him, heheh…Eh…"

Yahto opens his mouth to say something, but Jake was already gone. He shut his mouth up and shrugged, just let him tend to his dog. _OK, so what now? He doesn't seem to like me, probably thinks I'm a loser with low self-esteem who can't take care of himself. Maybe I should just go home…_

As Yahto ponders this he pays little attention to the rustlings in the trees around him. The thought of wildlife crosses his mind as the source of the noise, so he pays little attention to it.

"Hm?" Yahto looks down at a glow on his chest. His necklace is giving that eerie glow again, just like it did back at the museum. He slowly reaches to the crystal and lifts it up to his face, taking a closer look at the crystal's little glow. Yahto seems captivated by it, until his eyes suddenly get irritated that is. With a grunt Yahto lets go of the crystal as he rubs his eyes as they start to ache. For some strange reason his eyes just suddenly felt like if they were on fire, and the crystal's glow wasn't that potent enough to irritate his eyes.

As he kept rubbing his eyes he also felt a slight pain on his left wrist, like if he just strained it. He grunts a bit as he slightly opens his eyes, this is barely tolerable as his eyes are burning and now irritated as they are a bit reddish. He grits his teeth as he rubs his wrist, what the heck is causing this all of a sudden? Now that he thinks of it, this exact thing happened at the museum in the elevator. "What's going on…?"

A sound from behind startles him. He turns around just to find Jake's dog staring at him as if he's from another dimension. This slightly disturbs Yahto, but he shakes off the feeling. "Uhhh, hi…Where's Jake?" _As if the dog will answer me…_

"_Gaaarrgh!"_

Yahto suddenly throws his head up upon hearing that scream. "That sounded like Jake!" He looks around at an attempt to locate from where it came from, but before he could even try the dog apparently was startled by the scream and ran off. And for reasons oblivious to Yahto, he took his backpack that was sitting right on the bench with him. "Hey!" He exclaimed at the dog. "Come back! That's mine!"

And so the chase began. Yahto made a mad dash after the dog to retrieve his pack. He could understand the dog being startled by the scream; but to take his backpack along with him? That's definitely right up there with the mystery of his burning eyes and irritable wrist. Yahto breathed in his nose and out his mouth as he continued his rather futile attempt at chasing the dog down. _Geez! For a dog looking a bit old he's pretty fast!_

Yahto barely manages to keep up to see the dog turning left behind a huge tree. He quickly takes the turn, although maybe a bit too quick…

_BAM!_

"Aagh!"

Yahto falls hard to the ground after slamming into something for the second time today. He rubs his head as he sits up while lifting his cap from out his eyes. He quickly spots the dog he was chasing right in front of him; apparently he too bumped into what he bumped into. Looking up he almost screams in shock as he faces a person with that dark-purple costume with the familiar insignia on his belt and on his mask's forehead. _Not them again!_

The warrior looks down at him with a cold glare. That was basically it for him. Yahto sprung to his feet and made a quick 180 to run away, but to his dismay the warrior caught him by the shirt collar to keep him from running away. Yahto grunts as he struggles to break free, but the warrior's grip was just too powerful for him. "Agh! Let me go! What did I ever do to you?"

He kept struggling until the man holding him screamed in pain and felt his grip come loose. He turns around just to see the man struggling with a certain dog at his leg, biting. The dog saved him. Yahto gasps upon hearing rustling in the trees and spotted two more warriors jump out from the trees, each of them holding spear-like staves. Yahto quickly turned around and started running, but upon running he quickly came to a complete stop. The dog was still back there, and if it wasn't for him who knows what could've happened to him. _Fine time for a guilt trip…_

No, it wasn't that. He just felt this strange urge to go back and kick their butts…

Almost not thinking he quickly turns and runs back, his eyes set on a glare. He quickly spots the three men, two of them going for their partner's aid as the one that grabbed Yahto was still struggling with the dog. He gasped as one of them aimed his staff at the dog and shot at it, knocking it off from the man's leg and away. That was the last straw, Yahto found himself within a deep anger, his eyes mysteriously glowing without him realizing it. He ran headfirst toward them, jumping and throwing a strong fist to a man's face. The man drops hard to the ground while his comrades stand there perplexed at what just happened. Before they could get out from their stunned state Yahto turns and slams his fist into the second man's lower jaw, knocking him back.

The remaining one standing gripped his staff tight and swung at the kid. Yahto jumped back, dodging the swing. Another swing from the man and Yahto jumped over the attack. Going around the man twirls his staff and swings the lower end of it at Yahto, but the kid ducks and avoid the attack. While ducking the kid sweeps his leg at the man, tripping him to the ground. The man quickly got up, but before he could catch his breath he receives a kick to his stomach, knocking him down to the ground.

The warrior that received the punch to the lower jaw was up and ready to fire an energy shot from the tip of his staff at the kid, but when he turned to him the warrior sort of froze. The child is giving him a deadly glare; his eyes are glowing red as he clutches his fist. Yahto has gotten incredibly hostile, he felt like something is controlling his body, and whatever is controlling him is bent on taking these guys on and shred them apart.

The man shook off his fear and shot. It came very close, but Yahto jerked to the left and jumped forward, dodging the shot and the explosion when it hit the ground. Yahto did a roll on the ground the moment his body touched earth and rolled forward, ending on one knee after the roll. By then another fallen warrior stood up and took his staff to shoot at the menace. Yahto was quick to get up and run to avoid the shots from the two men, giving them quite the frustration. When Yahto charged straight toward one of them the man thought he had a perfect shot, but when he pulled the trigger Yahto just jumped over the shot and slides on the ground and under his feet, toppling him down. The man managed to land on one knee, preventing a fall to the ground. But when he looked over his shoulder to look at the boy he received a shock of his life.

Yahto was turning around with one of his leg stretched out against the ground and his foot dragging, getting ready to throw that painful kick. And if his eyes weren't failing him, his foot was trailing fire! Actual fire! It all happened so fast for the warrior and before he could react he took a mean kick to his jaw. The kick was made worse by the fact that the fire he saw was real! A part of his mask got set on fire and his jaw was burned!

Yahto slowly gets up after the attack, the glow in his eyes slowly dying out. It would seem whatever's gotten into him is slowly subsiding. But just when things were settling down the man standing raised his staff and shot Yahto in the back, the distance between him and the kid was just enough to prevent death from the shot. "Gaaah!"

He falls forward to the ground, slight smoke rising from his back. The kid let out an inhuman growl as he lies there on his hands and knees, his fists slowly closing, clutching soil and dirt in-between his fingers. The glow in his eyes grows brighter, his anger and hostility dangerously rising.

The warrior was caught off guard upon seeing a gold aura surrounding the boy as he slowly stands up. The boy slowly turns his head to the warrior, his growl getting louder as all of a sudden golden fire erupt from under his feet and increase in height up to his knees and then up his waist, the flames licking against his pants and hands yet they do not burn him. Yahto slowly lifts his right arm and extends it out to the warrior. And in a flash, the flames engulf the kid and blows out in all directions. The warrior and his fallen comrades could only utter a little shout before the flames took them all.

The flames lit up the surrounding trees. And just a few feet away the dog, who recovered from being shot from the warrior's staff, was staring in horror as the flames slowly give way, allowing him to see a dragon with gold scales roaring to the heavens as the golden fire surrounds it…

* * *

"Uuugh…Man…What hit me…?"

Jake slowly opens his eyes after getting shot; he must've been out for a few seconds or so. That stung like heck. He quickly caught up at what happened and jumped up to his feet, to his dismay facing the Huntsclan. About 10 of them. Apparently they gathered around him after shooting him down. "Great, the welcoming committee!"

"Well well, so we meet again, dragon!"

Jake's eyes widen. That voice!

He turns around to face the Huntsgirl. These two go way back since Jake's first days as the American Dragon. Months after Jake learned the horrifying secret, his love interest, Rose, was the Huntsgirl. And not long after the Huntsgirl learned Jake's secret as well. And after a long time of being separated, they found each other again and with a little help they managed to be reunited again, working together to go up against the Huntsclan in undercover. Despite the relationship, they must still pretend to be mortal foes when in combat and in front of the Huntsclan.

"Attack!" Which is something the Huntsgirl is definitely trying her best to make it look convincing as she just commanded the whole group to charge the dragon.

"Whoa!" Jake cried as he immediately took flight, avoiding a head-on conflict with all of them. That would be suicide. He flies over them and spits fire at them, managing to spread them out. He quickly lands and eyes them all. 3 of them are close, 4 of them are a bit far away and the rest of them are on the other side. Perfect. Jake smirks and goes for the attack. He jumps and kicks the closest Huntsclan across the face and turns around with a fist to the next one who got close, punching his lights out. Jake turns to the one coming at him and leans back, dodging the hunter's staff swing. Jake smirks at the hunter and smashes him down with an elbow to the face.

"Hah! How did you like that, Huntscum? The AmDrag is here to give you the lowdown on getting your butt whipped!"

He turns to a Huntsclan hunter charging at him. The hunter swings with his staff but the dragon catches it and throws it away, throwing the hunter along with it and smacking into two other charging hunters. That's six down.

"Ha-ya!"

Jake turns to the cry and gets kicked in the chest by the Huntsgirl, knowing him down to the ground. He quickly recovered and rolled out of the way when the Huntsgirl shot with her staff, dodging the shot. He jumped up to his feet and looks behind him as two more charge at him. He quickly turns at them, dodging a stab of their staff and slaps them away with his tail. He quickly turns to keep his eye on the Huntsgirl, bringing up his guard. The huntress charges and swings her staff at him, which the dragon avoided to the left and whacked the staff out of her hand with a quick swing of his arm. The Huntsgirl glared and throws a kick, but the dragon quickly caught her leg, stopping her attack. But she's not easy to take down. She quickly jumps and with her free leg she wings, kicking Jake right on the jaw, releasing herself as the dragon veers and fumbles to the side.

"Ugh!" Jake complains after the kick, rubbing his jaw. "Whoa!" He ducks quickly to avoid another flying kick. And then finds himself backing away as he dodges fists and kicks from the Huntsgirl. "Nngh! You're very fast, girl!"

"At least you haven't lost your touch defending!" The Huntsgirl comments as she keeps bringing on the offense.

"Thanks for the comment but can you tell me what you're doing here and what's the Huntsclan planning!" Jake inquires, keeping up the fight to conceal their conversation.

"I'm not sure myself, Jake." She replies as she jumps for a roundhouse kick, which only misses as the dragon ducked low to dodge it. "But whatever it is it can't be good. The Huntsmaster is bent on finding whatever it is he's searching for!"

Jake growls as he blocks a punch. "First the Aztec Skulls and now this. I mean what is UP with that man?" He then makes a quick 360 turn to attack with his tail.

"I don't know." Huntsgirl replies as she makes a back flip, dodging the tail. She lands next to her staff and picks it up, charges in and swings horizontally. The dragon parries the attack, catching the staff with his hands, locking them both in a struggle with the staff. "But the Huntsmaster entrusted me with some kind of gold scale to find what he's searching for."

Jake's eyes widen. "Say what?" This information clipped something in his mind. The scales he saw at the museum and the one he recovered at school yesterday! So they're connected with each other after all! Jake was about to add something else before another hunter jumped in and shot Jake's side, the shot burning his side and throwing him off his feet and down to the ground. "Aarrgh!" He skids on the ground after landing, clutching his side as he slowly gets up. "Nnngh…That was cheap!"

"Tough luck, dragon!" Huntsgirl cries as she twirls her staff. "Good work, hunter." She congratulates the one who made the shot before turning to the dragon and points her staff at him. "Attack!"

Jake gasps as six out of ten hunters charge at him. Jake backs up and eyes them, spotting one charging at him with a swing of his staff. Jake ducks and uppercuts after dodging the staff, striking the hunter's jaw and knocking him down to the ground with a busted jaw. He spots a hunter coming at him and in a quick move he turns and grabs his staff, twirls it around and throws the hunter off. Still wielding the staff he parries another hunter's staff swing and tilts the staff down the right, striking the hunter's head with the blunt end of the staff. He twirls the staff and holds it up horizontally, parrying a third hunter's attack. He swings the staff to the side, knocking away the hunter's grip on his staff and turns for a roundhouse kick, connecting with the hunter's face and sending him flying back to the ground.

"Hah!" Jake cries out victoriously after the kick, twirling the staff and striking a pose with it. "Is that all you got, Huntscum? 'Cause the AmDrag isn't breaking a sweat with this playtime!"

The Huntsgirl couldn't help but giggle. "Have you noticed you're fighting with a Huntsclan weapon yet we're your enemies?"

"Say what?" At first Jake was confused by the Huntsgirl's remark, but when he gave the staff he was wielding a second thought it clicked in his mind. Jake got out of his pose and grabs the staff with both his hands, snapping it in two, quickly coming up with a rather lame excuse. "Erm yeah…I knew that…Just wanted to add insult to injury by kicking your butts with your own weapon…"

As he threw the broken staff away a hunter came up from his blind spot and shot him from behind. "Gaahh!" He collapses hard on the ground, his back aching from the shot as he slowly gets up on his hands and knees. "Uugh…"

"You should know by now to never let your guard down!" Huntsgirl advices as she stands there. The battle was about to continue when sirens blared through the silent atmosphere. The Huntsclan hunters stopped in their tracks and look up upon hearing the sound. Huntsgirl looked behind her as something caught her eye, spotting a glow not far from them at the park. It was fire! Huntsgirl's eyes narrow into a glare and turns her head to her comrades. "Huntsclan, retreat!" They obeyed and disappeared into the tree tops of the surrounding trees, leaving behind the dazed and hurt dragon. Huntsgirl looked over her shoulder at Jake, who was slowly getting up and clutching his arm. "I'll let you know what I find about the Huntsmaster's plan tomorrow at school." She told him after making sure her comrades were long gone, then she disappeared too into the tree tops. Leaving Jake alone behind.

"Hahh…Awww maaan…" Jake groans as he tightly clutches his arm. He's bummed at how bad he got his butt handed to him just now. Sure, he managed to hold out and give them a run for their money, but the final outcome was the same as the past week. Huntsclan escaping, stage right. Hurt dragon, stage left.

He looks at where Huntsgirl was looking at, he too spotting the glow of fire not far ahead. Two names immediately came into mind. "Yahto! Fu!"

He quickly reverted down to his human form and made a dash toward the glow. If there really is a fire, then with those sirens in the air the fire department must've gotten there by now.

* * *

Not far ahead, Huntsgirl is standing in the leaves of the tree tops, hidden away from plain view. She hoped she wasn't too rough on Jake back there, but they had to make it convincing they hated each other's guts so they wouldn't blow their cover to the others. But that's in the past, she's intrigued at how this fire started from out of there. She noticed back there she was three hunters short, but she knows they wouldn't do something as reckless as setting a part of the park on fire.

Using the shadows of the tree tops she skillfully jumps from tree to tree, getting closer to the fire. She stops on one tree as she feels something warm in her pocket. She reaches into her pocket and takes out the item the Huntsmaster gave to her, the one she mentioned to Jake, a golden scale. She curiously looks at it as it gives off a rather strong glow. She remembered what the Huntsmaster told her, she would know when she was close to what he's searching for when she laid eyes upon the scale at the right time.  
'_That means it's got to be close…'_

Huntsgirl stored the scale back into her pocket and kept going forward, the heat of the flames getting intense as she closes the distance. She stops at a good distance away from the flames and her eyes widen at what she sees. _A…A dragon?_

Correct. What she sees is nothing more than a golden dragon, standing there with its majestic wings spread out. It flexes its claws as it stands there and throws its head up in a loud roar, making the Huntsgirl to cover her ears. She slightly open her eyes after the roar ended, seeing the dragon as it spasms and drops onto its knees. What she sees next shocks her. The dragon roars weakly as it drops to the side and rolls onto its back, fire starting to engulf the creature. She jumps from the tree she was on and onto the scene, slightly covering her face from the heat of the fires in the trees. Looking down at where the dragon was she gasps in shock, for what lies there now is a boy. She recognizes the boy from school, the newly transferred one. _But…He can't be a dragon…Can he?_

Huntsgirl was without words. Double checking, she takes out the scale from her pocket. But as she suspected, the scale was reacting to the boy. She looks down at the unconscious boy, she couldn't…

The sirens were getting louder. She had to make her leave _now._ Before she split the scene she took notice of the boy's necklace, it too was reacting like her scale was. She wondered if it had any relation to the scale, but she couldn't stick around any longer. But also, she couldn't return to the Huntsmaster without anything to report. Surely another piece of scale one of the hunters from the group reacted and they took notice and mentioned it to the Huntsmaster, and as usual he'd expect her to have something to report from it as well. Believing the necklace was related to the scale; she reached for the necklace and snapped it from around the boy's neck and took it with her, disappearing through the trees.

* * *

Fu couldn't believe what he just saw. When he recovered from his daze from being shot by the Huntsclan's staff Jake's friend jumped in and fought them off by himself. But he was something else! He saw the kid's eyes glowing! And just when he thought it was over one of the hunters had to come and shoot him from behind and…Oh man oh man oh man, what he saw next made his blood run cold and his paws cement into the ground.

The kid just made a cry and he was engulfed by fire! It blew toward every direction and set the surrounding trees ablaze! And if that wasn't enough the kid turned into this golden dragon! That's right, a dragon! Fu couldn't believe it either, he just couldn't believe this quiet kid was a dragon. He knew there was something odd about the kid with his eyes, but this takes cake! But what's worse…Fu Dog just couldn't grasp it…He didn't want to! He refused to believe it!

The 600-year-old Shar Pei hid behind a tree covering his eyes with his paws and whimpering. "Aw man I can't believe this his happening." Fu spoke to himself as he cowered behind the tree. "This can't be happening! I gotta be dreaming! I gotta be dreaming! Argh, please tell me this is a horrible nightmare and I'm gonna wake up in my warm little bed in a matter of seconds!"

But it is possible, and he just saw it with his own two eyes. The moment he saw that kid go dragon the memories came back to him. He has heard about it happen three times and he has seen it at least once in all his 600 years of life to know what the kid just turned into. And, to his dismay, he wishes it didn't showed up here in New York and especially in this kid.

"Fu! Yahto!"

Fu brings his paws off from his eyes and lifts his head. Jake! Oh man he's running straight to the dragon! Fu Dog finds his courage and comes out from behind the tree, but to his relief the dragon is gone. Oh boy, not completely out of the woods. The dragon just reverted back to its human form. Fu was still terribly shaking from witnessing what he just witnessed. He just stood there as Jake made it to the scene and saw the two of them.

"Fu! Yahto!" Jake cried as he ran toward them and slid down onto one knee next to kid, Yahto. He slightly shakes the unconscious kid, trying to get him to wake up. "Yahto! Wake up!" Jake looks up and around the lit up trees, the fire licking against their bark and igniting more close-by trees. He looks at Fu. "Fu! What happened here?"

Fu, however, is terrified out of his mind, he's zoned out.

"Fu? Fu? Fu! Snap out of it!"

The sirens were getting dangerously louder. They had to split or be into a lot of trouble with the police. Jake transformed to his dragon form and scooped up Fu and the unconscious kid in his arms and flew out of there.

They made it out of there without being seen…

The fire at the park was put out, but investigators couldn't find the source of it…After all, how can you trace the origin of a fire to a dragon?


	6. Day 3: Game of will

"_Akuba__…Please reconsider…"_

"_Sadly, I cannot. I__ cannot leave this curse in this state."_

"_But…Elder, what will come of this? Surely the curse will still uphold the future even with the seal."_

"_True. However, this seal will just be the first step on the long road to be rid of this curse."_

"_Are you…Absolutely certain about this?"_

* * *

Yahto stirred and slowly opened his eyes, his head throbbing and his eyes heavy. He felt like he didn't sleep at all last night, his body was sore all over and his joints were aching.

"Aw man…" Yahto groaned with a whisper. "What happened last night…?"

Mysteriously enough Yahto couldn't remember anything about what happened last night. He does remember he was at the park with Jake and his dog, but anything past that is a big blank. He can't quite understand it; something must've happened for him to be this sore and tired. It couldn't be the effects of a nightmare, he didn't dream last night, at least not that he can remember at the moment.

As he tried to remember his thoughts went back to Jake. He couldn't help but smile to himself.

"_I know how the pressure can be. It's no cake walk with newbies in new cities. Just be yourself."_

Jake Long…Does that kid actually accepts Yahto for who he is? Did he make friends with him yesterday at the museum and at the park?

Yahto gave a gentle sigh and patted his chest. He was suddenly alarmed and quickly sat up on his bed, forgetting about his sore limbs as he patted his chest again and followed it down to his stomach and pants, patting desperately to find something.

"M-My necklace…!" Yahto searched his empty pockets before looking around his room. Unfortunately he couldn't see it, not even find it. He couldn't believe he lost it; it was so precious to him. A present from his father…

Yahto lowered his eyes as he slowly bowed his head, feeling like he lost a part of him along with his necklace…

* * *

**DAY 3**

* * *

"C'mon, Fu!" Jake insisted as he leaned against the door opening of the backroom of his grandfather's shop, his eyes on his dog companion. "Aren't you going to tell me what happened last night? You've been zoned out like a zombie since I got here. What's the big deal?"

Jake arched an eyebrow as he heard Fu give off a sigh, so he's finally giving in. "All right, kid. I guess I have no other choice anyway."

Jake got off of the door's frame and walks up to Fu as the Shar Pei took out his trusty magical book of magical creatures and opened it to a certain page. As always magic emanated from within the book, illuminating a hologram of the creature in question into view in 3D. "This is what I saw last night at the park, kid."

The moment Jake saw the creature he was taken back at what he saw. It was a dragon, just like him, but man can this dragon look tough and mean! The dragon's entire body seems to be made of gold with a darker tone from its knees down and from the elbows down, and its underbelly is red to match is flowing red hair. Its majestic gigantic wings are as gold as its body and along its back and tail protrude dangerous looking red spikes. And if that was enough, take a look at its bull-like horns and the fangs protruding downward from its mouth. No doubt about it, just from the looks of it this dragon is bad news. Really bad news.

"Kid, let me introduce you to the Millenium Dragon; the toughest and nastiest dragon you'll ever meet next to the Dark Dragon." Fu gave a glance to Jake to see if he's listening before continuing. "This dragon has given the Dragon Council a whole bunch of trouble thorough the years, and it even single-handedly defeated the entire council from what I've heard. Apparently a very long time ago this dragon used to be one of the good guys until a horrible curse was set on it, turning it into this mean customer."

"Whoa…" Jake comments in awe. "Wicked looking dragon but uhhh…Are you sure you saw this dragon yesterday?"

"As sure as a leprechaun is after counting his pieces of gold, kid. I saw it with my own two eyes." Fu paused to take a deep breath before continuing. "But to tell you the truth, I really wish what I saw wasn't the real thing. I mean, this dragon is one tough cookie, it's going to be incredibly tough to take him down, even for you, kid."

Jake couldn't help but roll his eyes with a confident laugh. "Hah! C'mon, Fu. I've taken down the Dark Dragon, the #1 threat to the Magical World! With I might add I've beaten him twice."

"This is serious, young one…"

Jake and Fu turned around to the door to greet none other than Jake's mentor and grandfather, Luong Lao Shi, a powerful Chinese Dragon who was the first one to ever fight, survive and defeat the Dark Dragon. Lao Shi has been hearing what Fu Dog has been telling Jake about the Millenium Dragon and he too is unnerved by the news of the dragon being sighted. "This is horrible news indeed, Jake." He starts as he walks up to the two of them. "The Millenium Dragon is an extremely powerful dragon and cannot be taken lightly."

Jake scratches the back of his neck as his arrogant attitude begin to take a dive. "Well, what do you know about the Millenium Dragon, G?"

Lao Shi shakes his head. "Not much, unfortunately. However, I've heard the stories and tales about the Millenium Dragon, tales as old as the Dragon Council itself. As Fu Dog told you, the Millenium Dragon used to be part of the Dragon Council."

Fu continues with the story as he reads back into his magical book. "According to the records the Dragon Council were tangled in a huge battle against a powerful sorcerer which rumors state was the one who gave the Dark Dragon his dark powers. But anyway, this sorcerer put a curse on the Millenium Dragon thus turning him into the evil bad guy we know today."

"So are you telling me this dragon is hardcore enough to take down the Dragon Council all by himself?" Jake looks around to see both Fu and his grandfather nod at his question. "Aw man and I thought the Dark Dragon was bad enough…"

Lao Shi turns to Jake and gives him a serious look, not kidding around about this one. "Jake, this dragon will be one of your most dangerous challenge yet as the American Dragon. For generations this dragon has been destroyed by the Dragon Council and this time it will be no different. As the American Dragon your duty is to find this dragon and destroy it."

Jake gave a nod but then shrugged. "No sweat G, but there's one problem. This dragon can take down the Dragon Council all by himself, how am I supposed to fight against him and win?"

"There are a number of spells and potions one can use to destroy this dragon," Lao Shi explained as he walked over and took a spell book out of the bookshelf and opening it. "It might take time, but I'm sure Fu Dog and I can prepare one before you confront this dragon."

Upon hearing this Fu Dog couldn't help but whimper a bit, he would be all over the idea if it wasn't for the fact that the dragon is one of Jake's friends; that kid with the weird red eyes from yesterday, Yahto. "Uhhh…Well, is that really necessary, gramps?"

Lao Shi turns his head to Fu, arching an eyebrow. "What do you mean, Fu Dog?"

Fu gave a sigh before continuing, his eyes reading the book. "Well, reading more about it the dragon's curse weakens in power over time."

Jake takes a step toward Fu and lowers down to him a bit. "Whoa there a minute, Fu. Just what exactly are you trying to tell us?"

"Just take a closer look at his name and have a lesson, kid. The Millenium Dragon. A millennium is a thousand years, right? If your answer is yes, congratulations, kid. You see, according to ancient records from the Dragon Council this Akuba dragon casted a seal to compress the curse. The records and prophecy said that this seal should have the curse weak enough to shatter it in about a millennium. And badabim badabum, you got his name! The Millenium Dragon."

"And how long has it been since this Akuba dude casted the seal?" Jake inquired.

"Well according to my calculations, kid." Fu Dog looks over his shoulder to Jake. "Exactly about a millennium since last year."

Jake was about to say that instead of destroying the dragon that maybe they could help him, but before he could even say it Lao Shi interrupts him. "Despite what the records say, we simply cannot allow the time for the Millenium Dragon to grow stronger. It would be an unnecessary risk."

Jake tries to have his say. "B-But gramps…!"

But Lao Shi shakes his head in denial. "I'm sorry, Jake, but I cannot allow such a huge risk. The Dragon Council has even ruled out that possibility. The records and scrolls about such a seal no longer exist and it's only known through prophecy. After a thousand years of dealing onslaughts with the dragon, it's no longer acceptable to even allow the dragon time to fight the curse. We simply cannot allow it."

Jake lowered his eyes in disappointment. Even if it's been unsuccessful for a millennium, there's always a chance to break free of the curse, right? And it's been a millennium, if the prophecy is true then it's time to get rid of the curse once and for all. He sighs as Lao Shi walks out from the backroom with the spell book, likely to find a good potion and/or spell for the dragon.

"I'm sorry, kid." Fu Dog added as he closed his book. "If it were up to me I would've really given him a chance to break the curse."

"Hm, yeah…" Jake's eyes widen a bit as he suddenly realized something and looked down at Fu. "Hey! What about Yahto? Did he see the dragon too?"

Fu froze for a second. That was a question he wished never to answer. How can he tell Jake that one of his friends is the dragon that they were just talking about? If Jake knew then everything would be even worse than it already is. "Uhhh…Why you ask, kid?"

"Well, when I found the two of you Yahto was unconscious. I thought maybe he got attacked by that dragon or something."

"Well…Uhhh…" Fu Dog stammered as he tried to come up with an excuse, he just felt that maybe he shouldn't tell Jake about that dragon being Yahto himself. But as Fu kept stammering, he knew he couldn't keep it a secret. In the end Fu gave up and took a deep breath. "Kid…I gotta be hon-"

"Whoa!" Jake exclaimed after he gave a glance at the clock. "I'm late! I was supposed to meet Rose at by the school for something important!"

"But, Jake, I…"

Jake was already scrambling to his stuff, scooping up his backpack and belonging in his hands before turning for the door. "I'm sorry Fu but I gotta run! Give me the lowdown later when I get back!"

Fu was about to go after him but the boy had already left. He stands there looking at the closing door, wondering how Jake would've taken the news that Yahto was the Millenium Dragon. It would be hard to swallow, to learn that a friend of yours is a maniacal dragon similar to the Dark Dragon. He looks back at his magic book as it's still lying on the table he set it on.

"I wonder if the kid knows…" He talks to himself, referring to Yahto and his dragon powers.

* * *

Yahto felt like he would collapse at any second. His body was so numb and felt heavy, he thought his legs were going to snap and buckle from the weakness in them. It was like he ran the hundred yard dash along with a one mile swim and a five story mountain climb. He didn't want to get up and go to school. But now that he's there standing in front of the building, his option of staying home would've been a so much better choice.

In his usual clothes and holding his backpack over his shoulder with his pair of skates dangling as they are attached an outer strap of the backpack, Yahto stands there in front of the school, his hair swaying in the breeze as he stares at the locked doors. He must've missed the memo that school was out today, there's a piece of paper with a message on the two front doors. Apparently the NYPD is investigating on what happened the day before yesterday.

Yahto sighs before turning around, his legs quivering a bit from how sore they are. Instead of leaving he takes a seat on the stairs that leads up the school to rest his legs. He still ponders about what happened last night for him to be so sore, but all he can come up with is that he got caught in a fight or something, but he was never one to get into fights.

Yahto sighs as he takes off his cap and pats his chest. He can't believe his necklace is gone. What could've happened to it? He always took good care of it and never left it out of his sight. Where could it have gone?

Yahto gives a yawn before leaning back against the stair step behind him, his eyes still heavy and groggy. Not able to keep his eyes open any longer Yahto slowly closed his eyes, and just like that he falls asleep…

_But his dream was not a pleasant one._

_Yahto finds himself in the city, now flooded by flames and the buildings in ruins. __Not this dream again, the dream of the city in ruins and dangerous flames of fire everywhere._

_Yahto turns his head left and right, seeing nothing but fire and ruined buildings. He turns around and runs down the street to try to find an escape from this hell, but wherever he goes there are fires everywhere, no safe place._

_Yahto stops and looks around. Where to go, where to find safety from these flames…_

_He covers his face from the heat of the flames, protecting himself from the deadly fires. He slowly uncovers his eyes and sees something slowly approaching him. Yahto gasps in horror, it's the dragon he always sees in his dream. He recognizes that height, wings and flowing long hair anywhere._

_Yahto began to step back before turning around and high-tailing it out of there. He ran as fast as he could to get away from the incoming menace, but he wasn't counting on the dragon to catch up on him this fast as the creature effortlessly used its wings to fly over Yahto and land in front of him, cutting him off from his escape._

_Yahto tried to stop but collides against the dragon in front of him and falls back to the ground, his heart pounding against his chest from the fear and terror that's surrounding him. He slowly sits up and rubs his face before looking up at the dragon, its red eyes looking down at him in a glare. Almost instantly Yahto turns around while getting up and starts to run again, but after taking a couple of steps he trips back to the ground as if bad luck had a hold on him. This is one horrible nightmare._

_As Yahto rubbed his chin as he got up to his hands and knees a large shadow has loomed over him. No doubt, it's the dragon. Upon realizing this Yahto turns over to be face to face with the dragon, that cold red glare looking down at him. The evilness in its eyes as it growls at him, exposing its razor sharp teeth and fangs._

_Yahto yelped in fear as the dragon lunged down and grabbed him by his shirt and lifted him up right off his feet, holding him up. Yahto struggles as he grabs the dragon's hand, trying to pry them off. But the dragon's grip was strong and it had no intention of letting go._

_He prays in his mind that he'll wake up soon and out of this nightmare. He's sick of having the same nightmare again and again. He wants this over and have different dreams, not this same one. Why is he suffering the same nightmare over and over?_

_Yahto looks pleadingly at the dragon, but all he was greeted with was the same cold glare. And right there he knew he was going to be this dragon's prey as it brought up its other hand and flexed its claws. But then, something happened._

_The dragon stopped moving and looked over its shoulders, looking at something. A bit confused Yahto looked over the dragon to the light ahead emanating from the flames, and he too saw what this dragon saw. Another figure, standing there with glowing green eyes…Another dragon…?_

"_Well well…It's game time, dragon…"_

Yahto sat up with a gasp. He clutches his chest as he breathes heavily recovering from that nightmare. He still felt the grip of that dragon on his shirt, the sheer terror on his face. Another dragon in his nightmares? There's just no way…

* * *

Jake was on a rush to his school to meet up with Rose. Both she and Jake are working together to stay one step ahead of the Huntsclan and to figure out their next move for the remaining Aztec Skulls and take them before they do, otherwise the Magical World is doomed. Although lately with the increased activity of the Huntsclan Jake seriously needs to talk to Rose and figure out what they're up to, and what they're looking for other than the Aztec Skulls.

Riding his skateboard he darts down the sidewalk and taking sharp turns in curves, his speed refusing to drop as he's in a hurry to meet up with Rose. He's still a bit sore at how he's been getting his butt kicked lately with all the Huntsclan hunters out and ganging up on him, he wishes how he could get back at them, somehow. But for now, he has to keep his head set on what he has to do. Find the remaining Aztec Skulls, keep them safe, and do something about this Millenium Dragon running loose.

Jake skids to a stop and kicks up his skateboard to his hand as he stands at the back of the school facing the lot behind it. He walks into the lot and looks around as he sees it empty. Where is she?

"Rose?" Jake calls out. He takes a few more steps before a felt a hand on his shoulder, startling him as he screams and abruptly turns around, his heart nearly giving out from the surprise.

Rose couldn't help but giggle to herself. "Calm down, Jake. It's just me."

Jake gave a sigh of relief to see it was her. "Rose…You nearly gave me a heart attack."

Rose nodded apologetically. "I'm sorry, but you do know that we have to be careful, the Huntsclan could be out there watching me."

Jake scratched the back of his head with a slight chuckle upon remembering that. Ever since Rose came back from the Academy she has been a bit on close surveillance, so it's always a risk to talk to her about these things. "Right…Anyway, have you figured out what the Huntsclan are up to?"

Rose's eyes suddenly went serious and she scanned the area, making sure no one was listening. "Well…Not fully but I have an idea at what they're looking for." Rose set her backpack down on the ground and opened it. She then took out what looked like a small piece of gold, small enough for her to conceal it in her fist.

"Say, that's…" Jake's suspicion since yesterday was true upon seeing that piece.

"You probably figured it out already, but yeah, it's a gold scale." Rose explained as she held out the scale to Jake for him to see. "This scale acts like a radar of sort, it reacts whenever it's near to whatever this belongs to. That's why the Huntsmaster has collected quite a few of them."

"No wonder I found one of them at school when the Huntsclan attacked." Jake adds as he scratches his chin. "But that sucker was bigger than this puny one; I had to carry it with both hands from how heavy it was. Not to mention how much weight it put on my back when I hid it in my backpack."

Rose nods in acknowledgement. "These things are incredibly strong, even this little one actually weights a lot. These scales can make an impenetrable armor."

As Jake stares at the scale it suddenly came to him. Gold…scale…armor. Scales are like armor for dragons. Scales of color gold means…

Jake's eyes widen a bit. "Rose…You're not going to tell me that the Hunstman is after a…"

"A dragon?" Rose finished his sentence. She nods in response. "And not just any dragon, but one of the most powerful dragons that ever existed…"

"The Millenium Dragon…" Jake whispered, at least loud enough for Rose to hear. He shakes his head in disbelief that the Huntsman is after such a dragon. Knowing the Huntsman he's not looking to slay this dragon, but for something else. "B-But what does he want with the Millenium Dragon? That jerk can't possibly believe he can slay it or something!"

"My thoughts exactly, but that's not stopping him from searching for it." Rose adds as she puts the scale away in the backpack. "The Huntsman hasn't told me anything about what he's planning but my guess is that he has something planned for the dragon, maybe possibly take away its power somehow and harness it for the good of the Huntsclan." She kept talking as she set her backpack on her back. "I've used the Huntsclan's library to look up some information on the Millenium Dragon and from what I've read it will spell disaster if the Huntsclan were to succeed in gaining this power."

"I know, I've also heard a lot of bad rep about the Millenium Dragon from gramps and Fu." Jake narrowed his eyes and slammed his fist in the palm of his other hand. "We can't let the Huntsclan get their hands on it if they do have a way to get the dragon's powers!"

Rose nods in agreement as she placed her hands in her pockets. She then froze upon feeling something in her pocket. The necklace she took from that boy from last night, she still had it. She almost forgot all about it. The Huntsmaster wasn't too interested in it despite it reacting to the other scales and therefore dismissed it. Instead of getting rid of it Rose kept it with her, just in case she ever saw that boy again.

"Until then I have to keep on fighting them," Jake continued. "Gramps told me he and Fu were going to work on creating something that could destroy the dragon, as much as I hate to do it after hearing about the curse."

Rose felt her heart sink when she heard about Jake's grandfather working on something to destroy the dragon, but then the next thing she heard caught her interest. "A curse?"

"Yeah, according to what Fu told me this dragon is suffering from a curse that it's controlling it in wreaking havoc and destruction and supposedly it grows weaker as the years pass. There's some sort of prophecy that the curse will be broken in a thousand years, which according to Fu this curse has been ready to bite the dust since last year."

That's why it's called the Millenium Dragon, Rose concluded to herself. It's common knowledge that a millennium is a thousand years. And after hearing that fact and connecting it to the dragon's name, you can pretty much connect one to one. Rose felt a bit of relief swelling her upon hearing that. There's a chance this dragon can break the chains and regain its senses. And at a good time too, because…

"That sort of reminds me…" Rose began as she took her hand out of her pocket, dragging out the necklace. "I believe you know who this belongs to."

Jake looks at the necklace as Rose holds it out to him. At first he didn't recognize whose necklace this is, he gave it some good thought and then it came to him. "Hey! That's Yahto's necklace!"

Rose nods but gives a serious look. "Jake…This necklace is actually another piece of scale just like the ones we have…"

Jake was shocked upon hearing this as he jumps a bit and takes a step back. "Say what?"

"I found him unconscious at the park on my way out. This necklace of his got my interest when it reacted to the scale I had back then. It's a different color, but if I'm right this is just like the ones we have."

Jake was just in shock. Yahto had one of the scales all along? An idea just came into mind. Yahto told him he just moved here five days ago, which he recalls exactly five days ago was when the Huntsclan began to be more active, searching for this dragon. Maybe…Just maybe…

"You think the Huntsclan were after this necklace?" Jake inquired, still not grasping an important straw here. "That could explain their attack on the school and popping out in the park when I was there with Yahto."

Rose shook her head. "The Huntsclan didn't care for this necklace…" She handed over the necklace over to Jake. "But Jake…There's something you should know…"

Jake looked at Rose as he took the necklace and put it away in his pocket, not liking the tone in her voice. "What is it?"

"It's about Yahto…"

"What about him?" Jake was lost at where Rose was driving at; the necklace, the scales, not to mention the sudden mention of Yahto. Where is she going with this? And then, it dawned on him like a ton of bricks.

Those strange red eyes of his…

The necklace he's always with…

Yesterday him being unconscious in the middle of a ring flames with Fu…

"No…" Jake muttered.

Seeing Jake's reaction Rose knows he figured it out. "I saw the Millenium Dragon last night, and…Well, it was Yahto…"

"No way…" Jake felt his legs quiver. Yahto, the kid he went to the museum with and the park yesterday, the quiet kid from school, is actually this powerful dragon? There's just no way, it sounded impossible! Shake began to slowly shake his head. "No…No no no…It can't be him…I barely know him but I can already tell that Yahto would never be this…This monster!"

"Well, from what I saw last night it looked like he didn't know what he was doing, like he doesn't have any control over it. When he when back to normal he was unconscious." What Rose said once again gives more credit to the curse Fu mentioned. "If the prophecy is right then he might have a chance to actually break the curse, right?"

"And save himself from being destroyed." Jake cooed as he took out Yahto's necklace and stares at it, to think that Yahto is this ultimate dragon capable of fighting against the Dragon Council single-handedly and that he's suppose to destroy him.

"Jake…" Rose began as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Let's look more into this dragon, the both of us. That way we can find a way to help Yahto fight this. If we help him break the curse, this problem will fix itself right? The Huntsclan won't be able to capture him and you won't have to destroy him."

Jake looks at Rose and nods. But if they fail, what then? If they fail in breaking the curse Jake would have no other choice but to eliminate him to keep the Magical World safe.

A silence befell between the two as Jake continued staring at the necklace. Nobody said being the American Dragon would be easy, but when it comes to situations like this, it really tears your heart in two. Either save a friend and risk the entire Magical World along the way, or destroy a friend to keep the entire world safe.

An impossible decision either way…

* * *

Yahto tried to unwind his troubled mind by walking around the streets of New York, trying to relax from that nightmare. It was just too terrifying, the dragon standing over him and then being grabbed like that and being face to face with it. Why does he keep having these dreams? Why him? And what was up with that second dragon with the glowing green eyes? Why is there a second one?

He rubbed his head as he keeps on walking, paying little attention to where he was going. He stumbles on a pebble and nearly trips, bobbing forward as he tries to regain his footing. He succeeds and sighs in relief with one hand over his chest, managing to avoid a face plant on the concrete floor. He looks around; finding himself in one of New York's many neighborhoods. It's strangely quiet for ten am.

A gust of wind coming from down the street causes Yahto to slightly cover his face from the wind. It felt nice the cool morning wind blowing against his face, it soothes his mind from that nightmare and his tired body.

Suddenly he feels his cap being blown off from his head. Yahto yelps in surprise as he feels his head to find the cap missing before turning around, seeing it rolling on the ground and been blown off with the gust of wind. Just what he needed…

"Oh no…!" Yahto begins to give chase to his cap. "Get back here…!"

He follows his cap as it keeps being blown in the wind, well out of reach from him. But Yahto doesn't give up and keeps on running after it, he lost his necklace but he's not intending on losing his cap. He takes a turn to the left and finds his cap slowly falling to the ground as the gust of wind dies down in a small pathway between two buildings. All right, no problem, Yahto thought to himself as he sees his cap landing on a little puddle, of all things.

He walks over to his cap, kneels down to it and grabs it. As he does so a tall figure walks into the pathway and stands behind Yahto, its eyes looking down at the boy as he is obliviously kneeling down in front of it and patting the water out of his cap.

As Yahto finished in wiping his cap clean he began to notice the odd shadow looming over him. This brings some serious déjà-vu to the boy…

With a gulp Yahto slowly turned around as he got up to his feet, and what he saw could've stopped his heart right then and there. The figure is pretty tall, towering over the boy like the dragon in his dream, and though the lack of light kept most of the figure in a shadow Yahto could clearly make out the wings behind it. Yahto froze there in fear, his eyes set on this creature's glowing green eyes. The creature narrowed his eyes a bit which then Yahto got the feeling on his legs back and took a step back, his movement and shift of his location making the light behind the creature dim a bit more in his eyesight and the shadow over the creature almost disappeared, allowing him to really see the creature.

This creature is completely black with a tan underbelly and a pair of emerald green eyes with a hint of a green glow in them, its hair red and its wings blue with the outer edges black. Along with that this creature has some very intimidating tattoos on both its arms from around the wrist up its arms and ending on its shoulders and chest, the tattoos glow a faint and intimidating glow. Yahto couldn't believe it, that dragon with the glowing green eyes is this one, and it's real!

"Yo, Yahto…" The dragon casually says with a rather sadistic look on its face and a menacing smirk.

Yahto screams and fumbles back away from the dragon, not only terrified by the dragon actually being there in front of him but it also knows his name!

"Now, that's no way to greet a former guest, now is it?" The dragon once again spoke with its terrifying look.

Yahto kept backing away from the dragon in horror, wanting to get away from there but not doing so immediately as to not get the dragon to chase him. He heard something behind him and he looked over his shoulder, gasping to see what seemed like a purple vortex set there right behind him and cutting off his escape route.

"It's game time, my friend." The dragon commented as it lifted a hand with its pointing finger outstretched as it glows with magic. "The time has come once again."

Yahto gasped as he saw the vortex behind him beginning to expand, threatening to suck him into it. But even before he could move the vortex expanded and engulfed the two of them, bringing them into a pitch black dimension of sorts. Yahto is shaking in terror as he looks around the pitch black area, no light within sight to guide him out. Other than the dragon's glowing tattoos, there is no source of light anywhere.

Suddenly the darkness began to go away, slowly revealing the location they are at. Yahto was surprised and shocked when all the darkness went away to discover that he wasn't back in that pathway in New York but back to someplace very familiar, a place with a lot of painful memories to him.

"This…" Yahto looks around. The light blue walls, the quiet halls, the clean floor, the well illuminated grounds, the worn down lockers, there's no doubt about it. "This is my old school!"

He walked over to the lockers and held out his hand, touching the cold metal of the storage devices. Yahto was in awe, he's actually there! No joke, no trick, nothing. "This…This is real…" He then looked over to his left to see the locker's number: 134, Yahto's old locker.

"Nice to be back home, isn't it?" The dragon commented, his face still with the same sadistic look and smirk. "Now Yahto, time to play a little game."

Yahto turned to the dragon, looking rather confused. "Game?"

The dragon gave a slight grin and snapped his fingers, spawning three tables in front of him with an item set on each one; a book, a movie case and a box. "The rules are simple," The dragon begins to instruct the boy. "Of these three items, one is the correct one for you. You are to choose the item you wish for the most."

Yahto cocks his head a bit at the dragon. That's it? All he has to do is choose with item he really likes out of those three? For a game as what this dragon calls it, it's a pretty lame game.

The dragon lowers his head a bit more, keeping his look and smirk. "If you choose the right item, you win the game and as a reward I'll answer every question that's in your mind." The dragon then smiled a rather creepy smile as if he knows Yahto will like what he'll hear the next. "That includes your dreams."

Yahto was caught off-guard upon hearing that. Is he for real? Does this dragon know what he wants to know? It sounds too good to be true. What's keeping this from being another dream? What if he wakes up and all of this is really a dream?

"However," The dragon begins to add. "Choose the wrong item and a terrible fate awaits you." The dragon then crossed his arms as the glow of his tattoos die down.

Yahto hesitated to even get near the dragon, let alone the items it placed in front of it. What if this is all a trick? What if the moment he gets near the dragon will just strike out and attack him? He didn't dare to even move from his spot, he couldn't.

"What's wrong?" The dragon inquired upon noticing Yahto's hesitation. "You don't trust me?" The moment of silence was clue enough and the dragon merely chuckled. "Very well."

The dragon then took a few steps back, putting distance between it, the kid and the items until its back was against the door at the end of the hall. "Is this better?"

Yahto replied with a gulp, wondering if he should do this or not. On one hand he can just keep away from the dragon and this 'game' of his and he'll be all right. But on the other hand if this dragon is what's keeping him in this place then he might never get out of here. It seems like he doesn't have a choice in the matter.

Cautiously Yahto walks up to the items the dragon summoned up. If the dragon is telling the truth then just picking the one he likes will just end this little 'game'. Yahto looked at each of the three items and he gasped. "These are…"

He recognized every single one of them. The book is a black one about witchcraft and other dark magic instructions and reading. These books are very rare due to the high controversy of the items. These mysteriously showed up in a couple of book stores and those who got them were reported to actually perform and cast spells and magic. Strangely the moment these books were reported they were quickly taken away by anonymous people. These books actually became quite legendary to teenagers interested in such things and these books were heavily sought after in book stores despite the owners of said shops claiming they have never even heard of such a book.

The box he almost immediately recognized it as well. The box is a complete set of a semi-automatic paintball gun completely with the shooting tank, stock for better shooting and about 500 paintball bullets. A really expensive paintball gun and a really popular one with the teenagers who are into paintball wars and other related activities.

The movie case made Yahto beam a bit. It's a movie about his favorite animated movie, the two-disc limited edition version with three hours of bonus content. Yahto fell in love with this movie when he saw it in theatres and planned to buy it on DVD the day it came out in stores.

Yahto lifts his head to the dragon, throwing at him a question. "So…All I have to do is pick the one I really want?" He saw the dragon nod in agreement, to which Yahto frowned. "Gee…Isn't this easy…"

The dragon smirked upon hearing that. "Do you really think so?"

Yahto flinched upon hearing that and then he heard the school bell rang as if on cue. Suddenly all of the classroom doors slammed open and students began to pour out from the classrooms, some heading for their lockers and others for their next class. For a moment there Yahto almost forgot all about the dragon and the 'game' as he was surrounded by people he used to know, the same classmates, books, everything. It was like he went back to his old home once again.

"Well, look who it is!"

Yahto stiffened upon hearing that voice. He recognized that voice from just about anywhere. He turns around almost instantly to come face to face with the old bully gang from this school. He has so many horrible memories because of this gang; how they used to pick on him, make his school life living hell. In fact, these guys were the main reason Yahto tried to change just to fit in. Not only were these guys always picking on him, but they were one of the most popular students in his class.

"It's the kiddy little boy, Yahto!" The leader of the gang spoke out. "Watcha doing out here, little man? Lost your eraser in the shape of a pony?"

As the gang laughed at the mocking Yahto blushed and felt his shoulders sag. Yahto had his own taste of items and belongings, most of which these guys and other cruel students thought they were kiddy. Granted Yahto didn't own any eraser in the shape of a pony, he did used to own backpacks of his favorite cartoons and videogames. Which most of them the 'mature' students deemed kiddy and for babies.

"No wonder you're always alone," One of them laughs. "You're still a little baby with your little babyish things!"

"Hahah, yeah! Grow up, kid!"

Yahto felt like he went back a year through time to those horrible days, when the students picking on him and isolating him for being 'too lame' or a 'baby'. He felt like just running away from there, run out of school and never come back, his scarred mind from all this teasing begging to get away from it all.

"Hey you! Kid!"

Yahto swirled around to whoever was calling him to face a mini-game table stand where those three items used to be. A middle-aged man stands there behind the table with a lottery cage next to him full with white balls with numbers written on them and prizes set behind him. Yahto then felt something on his hand, a piece of paper. Suddenly it all came back to him.

A year ago when he was still in this school there was a carnival set up, carnival day basically. One stand in particular was a lottery game where you draw a piece of paper with a number on it. On the hour of the lottery call the owner of the man spun the lottery cage and then picked out a random ball and read the number. Out of sheer luck Yahto's number was called out and he was to pick a prize from behind the man, any prize of his choice. And here's the twist, three items from the prizes the man had were the exact three items from the dragon's 'game': the book of magic, the paintball gun box and the DVD movie.

"I don't have all day here." The middle-aged man comments as he waits for Yahto to pick a prize. "Pick a prize, any prize."

It was all like a flashback. Here's Yahto standing in front of a lottery table about to collect his prize, and like last year he had the bullies and every kid that had always picked on him standing there behind him telling him what to choose. He recalls at how the bullies threatened for him to get the paintball gun so he can hand it over to them later. He recalls how the peer pressure practically tried to force him to get the other prizes instead of the one he really liked.

In fact, it's starting to happen again. He hears the chants behind him and the threats to get the paintball gun, others chanting for the book. Yahto was actually hesitating in picking his prize. He really wants to fit in and be accepted, but then again he really wants that movie. He wants the name calling and bullying to stop, but his heart and desire wants to pick what he wants. He was torn in two. It was really as if he went back a year through time to that day. Everything's so precise, the feeling, the pressure. It was because of this that on that day a year ago the pressure was too much that Yahto actually ran from the lottery table, giving up his prize just because he was set over the edge of his desire to be accepted and to stop the bullying.

In fact, he's really considering in doing just that right now…

"Heheh…" Behind the lottery table in a corner the dragon is resting his back against the wall with his arms crossed while looking past the corner, enjoying the show of his 'game'. "The child is frightened and hesitating…It is exactly like how he experienced it a year ago…Only now, he's capable of standing up for himself…" The dragon narrowed his eyes a bit with a pleasurable smirk. "The question is: is he still stable enough to do it?"

While the dragon was enjoying the show Yahto was pressing his hands tight against his ears trying to drown out his bullies' chants and threats. He wants to get out of there; he wants to shut them all up! He felt a sudden hostility growing inside him, the urge to rip them all apart and shut them up. A lust for blood…Just like last night back at the park before he…

The dragon narrowed his eyes as he frowned, not liking what he's seeing. "Perhaps he's not after all…"

Yahto slowly opened his eyes, feeling that urge getting worse and worse. His eyes move to the book, then at the paintball gun box. His eyes bobbled back and forth through those two items, deciding which to choose before he actually snaps at them and does something horrible. He was about to decide on the paintball gun box when he saw the movie lying there on the shelf, his desire for the movie coming back to him. In that short state of composure certain words of a certain friend of his back in New York repeated in his mind.

"_I know how the pressure can be. It's no cake walk with newbies in new cities. __Just be yourself."_

_Just be yourself…_

"Hm?" The dragon took his back off of the wall and focused his eyes on Yahto. "…A pleasant memory seems to be compressing the curse by itself…" The dragon arched an eyebrow, intrigued. "Interesting…It's from that child from yesterday…The American Dragon…"

Yahto gritted his teeth, those words echoing in his mind. Jake's right, all he has to do is be himself, not follow some people's words just to fit in and be somebody. They have to accept him for who he is! Not someone he's not!

"Shut up!" Yahto shouts. He then turns around to face the people behind him who have been pushing him to his limit. "I had suffered name calling and being given the cold shoulder from you guys because I was 'uncool' and 'childish.' I even tried to change to fit in and make friends, changes I never even liked just because I wanted the name calling and bullying to end. But no anymore…I'm sick and tired to trying to get others to like me by being someone I'm not…" Yahto's eyes narrowed dangerous to the quiet and shocked crowd, still giving them a piece of his mind. "I'm not that kid from a year ago anymore; I met some friends before I moved to New York who accepted me for who I am! And now I also found people who will accept me for who I am! I am Yahto and I am who I am, not a goth or a punk or a rocker or anything you people want me to be to gain respect!"

This sudden stand up from Yahto has everyone in total shock and disbelief. None of them utters a word, they just stand there staring at Yahto like if he just changed and stepped up, no longer that shy and silent boy who would take their insults and bullying and stay quiet about it.

The boy kept glaring at the group as they slowly faded out of his view like a holographic image dying down, the horrid memory of that day starting to fade away from Yahto's memories and returning back to the deepest reaches of his mind, destined to be forgotten. As he stared at the disappearing group the lottery stand behind him slowly faded out as well, going back to the three tables from before with each item on each table.

"Impressive…" The dragon comments after seeing the whole thing happening. "The boy unleashed his courage and spoke his mind to his horrid past. The memories were overwhelmed by the boy's sudden courage." The dragon then smiled as the boy freely went and chose his item, the movie box. "No question, the thousand year wait has come to an end."

Yahto was smiling as he looked at the movie box. No doubt this is the item he truly wants, the item his heart desired and not someone else making him get it. But did he win this 'game'?

"Bravo…Bravo…" Yahto raised his eyes to see the dragon standing in front of him a few feet away, his arms crossed as he stands there with his eyes slightly narrowed and the creepy smirk. "Congratulations, Yahto. You have won the game."

Yahto gritted his teeth a bit. Making him suffer what he went through a year ago, a game? He had the anger boiling up inside him and wanted to tell this dragon off, he doesn't care if this dragon could shred him into pieces.

"Now now, don't lose your temper." The dragon comments upon noticing the boy's rather angry look on his face. "We can't have that yet." He then brought up his hand and with a smirk he snapped his fingers. Upon doing so the entire area went white, nothing to see but Yahto and the dragon himself. "At least not before your prize…"

Yahto kept his distance from the dragon, keeping himself from any possible danger. "Just who are you…?"

The dragon smiled upon hearing the name, his smile seeming a bit sadistic. "Fine question…I am a dragon from days old; master of magic and king of games."

"W-What do you want with me?"

"What do I want?" The dragon couldn't help but chuckle. "I want nothing in particular, quite the contrary. I'm here to help you, Yahto."

Yahto blinks. "Help me? With what? Start making sense here! Why are you here? What's with the dreams I'm having? And why am I losing my mind here talking to a dragon?"

The dragon smirked. "My my, aren't we the curious one."

"Just tell me what's going on!"

The dragon nods. "All right, all right. First let's talk about your dreams. As you noticed, you've dreamt such dreams on a daily basis and every night they become worse. Your dreams are like a sign, Yahto."

Yahto blinks. "A sign? Sign of what?"

"Of instant possession." The dragon responds with the usual sadistic look on his face. "Yahto, you have been gifted with a rare power; unfortunately it has been corrupted a thousand years ago by a horrid curse. And it is from this curse where your dreams are emitting from."

Yahto frowned. This is all sounding like a very weird story. He almost can't believe it himself. The dragon merely chuckled, as if he's reading Yahto's mind and taking note of his hard time believing this story. "If you believe this is too much of a bizarre story," He started as he pointed at Yahto with a slight grin, "then explain to me about that dragon you saw at your school."

Yahto was caught completely off guard. How could this dragon know what he was thinking? More importantly, how does it know about that red dragon he saw at school the day before yesterday?

The dragon just grinned completely. "Thought so…" He lowered his pointing finger and continued. "Yahto, you are the inheritor of a power born every one hundred years, if it's not carried over to another generation of course." The dragon lowered his head as he narrowed his eyes even more, showing the seriousness of this matter. "The Millenium Dragon."

Yahto's eyes widened as he just stands there. Whoa there just a minute. Him? Yahto's the Millenium Dragon? A dragon? Is he hearing right?

"I take this is being hard to swallow." The dragon calmly continues as he watches the boy stand there without movement. "Your eyes, the birthmark, the dreams, not to mention your sudden knowledge of the martial arts that day at school, are all signs of your inheritance. However, this dreaded curse is what's keeping you without access to your real power and therefore giving you feelings of hatred and destruction."

The boy slowly looked down at his hand before grabbing his chest. Despite it all sounding like coming from some fan made story, this dragon is making the sense. Yahto does recall times when he's taken over by an overwhelming feeling of hatred, the same feeling he felt just a while ago when he was being bullied and suffering from peer pressure when he was to choose the item he really wanted. He also recalled that feeling to destroy, to kill. How he wanted to turn around and jump at them all, to hurt them and make them scream in pain.

The dragon continued his explanation as he raised his hand, holding out three fingers. "The curse overtakes you in three stages," He then lowered two fingers so he's only holding out one. "The first one is the gain of knowledge and power of the past Millenium Dragons. As you recall you already accomplished this one."

The dragon then held out his second finger to have out two. "Second; your dreams. You will continue having them as long as this curse dwells within you. It's all over when you are caught in the dream."

Yahto is already trembling in fear, this is actually making sense. But can he believe this? He has every reason to; after all he has already seen enough to make him believe there is more out there than just humans. Those ninja men, that red dragon he saw at school, this dragon just now and now all of this curse business.

"However," The dragon suddenly continues, "As long as you're stuck in the second phase, you will be plagued by other nuisances." He then pointed to Yahto's arm, where the birthmark is. "Your mark will glow and react whenever the curse tries to get to you. Pain will surge through your body when the curse is at its highest. Your lust for blood will increase to a dangerous level. You'll grow hostile and uncontrollable like a savage beast. And then, the worst of all…Spontaneous transformation."

That last one gave chills to the boy. "S-Spontaneous transformation?"

The dragon nods. "Tell me something, Yahto. Have you ever suffered any lapses in your memory?"

The boy gave it some thought before answering. "Um…Well…Yeah, once yesterday at the pa-" Yahto stopped right there, figuring out what the dragon is meaning.

"Correct." The dragon merely nodded. "A dangerous event. When your lust and hostility is at its highest the curse will take control over you momentarily and you'll transform into one of the most dangerous dragon ever to exist. You'll never even see it coming…"

Yahto slowly drops to his knees, all of this terrifying the boy to death. He's this dangerous dragon this dragon is telling him, and he can't do anything about it? Does he actually possess all of this power and no way to control it? Is he just a puppet for a thousand year old curse?

"You can stop thinking negatively now."

Yahto was surprised to hear the dragon say that. How did he…?

"The golden dragon in your dreams is basically the curse trying to get to you." The dragon continues, not caring for Yahto's state of mind. "If this dragon catches you, you are basically dead and the curse takes you over. At that point, it will be impossible to save you, you'll basically be dead. Luckily I was able to save you from the last dream before the dragon would've destroyed you." The dragon gave Yahto a stern look before continuing. "Yahto, you are not to let that dragon take you over in your dreams, otherwise it'll all be over for the both of us."

"B-Both of us…?"

The dragon nods. "A thousand years ago when the curse was inflicted I casted a magic seal upon it. This way the curse couldn't instantly take over the next dragon. However, my soul and essence was to be kept along with the seal, basically I'm the one responsible to keep the curse sealed down and lend a hand to the one against the curse. In this case, I am to protect you from the curse and aid you."

Yahto slowly got up to his feet, seeing a flaw in that statement. "If you really are here to help me…Then why that trip back in time to that horrible day?" Yahto is trying his best to keep himself from letting out a few tears, still feeling hurt from that painful reminder. "Why did you make me suffer that horrible day and listen to those hurtful words and taunts from those horrible people?"

"The object of game was to test your courage and will to stand tall above things such as influence and corruption. Judging by your past I figured you were pretty good at it. And as expected, you won the game."

"And if I lost…?"

The dragon shrugged his shoulders. "I'd have to kill you, of course. If you couldn't stand above the manipulation of mere humans then you'd have no chance against the curse's ways. I have the job to check if you're still capable of controlling your every thought and consciousness. But with you winning the game you've proved to me you have the capability of standing up to yourself and choose your own choosing without others manipulating you. It's a real trait needed to diminish the curse."

Yahto gulps, afraid to ask this next question. "S-So…What happens next…?"

The dragon then stood straight, once again stating the seriousness of the situation. "I cannot tell how this curse will continue in trying to get a hold of you and I cannot tell how to destroy it. It is something you will figure out on your own from here on out. The friendship that you held strongly onto to stand above those people in the game is what you need, keep your friends close and develop a strong heart. Only then will you be able to extinguish the curse and wield your power as a dragon all on your own."

Develop a strong heart and keep his friends close…If only Yahto could go back to his old neighborhood to meet his actual friends. So far in New York he doesn't have any friends…No, that's wrong, he has Jake…But again; can he see Jake as an actual friend? Does he accept him for who he is? Can he trust him? If this dragon is right, then he has to if he is to grow strong and see if he can count on him.

"So…that's it?" Yahto inquires as the dragon hasn't spoken again for almost a minute.

The dragon then smirked. "No…This is only the beginning."

* * *

Jake is riding on his skateboard down the streets of New York. He just finished his meeting with Rose and now he plans on going to the skate park to meet up with Trixie and Spud for some skateboarding action. He needs the practice too, after all the skating competition is only three days away.

As he skateboards down the streets he couldn't help but think about Yahto; to think that a shy and quiet boy like him is this powerful and wicked looking dragon. He wonders though if Yahto is clearly conscious about this whole dragon thing, if he knows about the supposed curse and the fighting he has to do to dispel the curse. And if he doesn't know, does Jake need to tell him? Even if he has to will Yahto believe him? Probably, then again probably not.

Jake slips his hand into his pocket and takes out the necklace Rose gave him. It really belongs to Yahto, but to think that the crystal is another piece of the puzzle, an object that, like the scales, can act as radar that glows whenever it's near its owner like Rose said. But if that's true, then how come Jake hasn't seen this necklace glow when Yahto wears it. That is if Yahto really is the Millenium Dragon.

"Whoa…" Jake skids his skateboard to a stop upon seeing the necklace starting to glow. "…I wonder…"

Jake picks up his skateboard and goes it on foot as he tries to find what's causing the necklace to glow. In his mind he wishes Rose isn't right and Yahto's the dragon, but then again Rose has never steered him wrong before with these things. If Yahto is really the dragon, then he would have to…

Jake shook the thought away and continued following the reaction of the necklace's glow, if Yahto is the dragon then he'll help him, right? If the curse really is at its weakest this year after a thousand years then it'll be easy to dispel the curse and everything will be just fine, right?

"Huh?" Jake stopped walking as the glow on the necklace diminishes. Did he go the wrong way? Jake takes a few steps back to see if the necklace glows again, but nothing, the necklace just stopped glowing. "Aw man…" Jake sighed, either the necklace ran out of juice or whatever it was tracking has just left the area.

After Jake put the necklace away he kept on walking, passing by an alley between two buildings. Just then Jake caught something in the corner of his eye and stopped his walking. "Wait a minute…" He retraced his steps to the alley and turned his head. "Yahto!"

He runs into the alley and to the figure sitting up on the ground. He drops his skateboard to the ground and kneels next to the boy. "Yahto! You okay?"

Yahto rubs his head, seeming like he has a headache. "W-Wha…?" He blinks a few times as he looks to his left, his eyes adjusting and seeing the guy next to him. "Jake? What are you doing here…?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Jake stood up as he helped Yahto up to his feet, helping in keeping him standing up as Yahto wobbled a bit. "What happened? You look like you took some spill."

"I…Uhhh…" Yahto rubbed his head as he gave some thought about what to tell him. It's not like he can just go out and say a dragon sucked him into some magical realm where it could manipulate the surroundings and made him play some sick 'game' to make sure he was capable of dealing with some curse. Yahto looked down at the ground, still seeing the puddle under his feet. "I uhhh…I was walking through this alley and I guess I slipped on these puddles and hit my head…" He then rubbed the back of his head, pretending to have a bump. "A really nasty hit…"

"Yeouch, a really nasty spill." Jake commented with a wince. "oughta be more careful around these alleys, yo."

Yahto gave an embarrassing smirk. "Y-Yeah…I learned at the hard way…"

As Yahto kept rubbing his head Jake kept staring at him, his eyes scanning him up and down. It seemed a bit hard to swallow this kid really is a dragon, and the Millenium Dragon at that. Although Jake shouldn't talk about him not being the dragon type, since he himself is a dragon and doesn't really look like he has such a secret. He ponders whether or not to confront him about this dragon business, he doesn't want to risk if Yahto doesn't know about it and make himself look stupid. But even if he doesn't know about him being the Millenium Dragon, he'll have to figure that out sometime. Otherwise they'll never get anywhere and the curse could swallow him by then.

Yahto himself kept his eyes away from Jake, not wanting to give him any suspicion that he's in fact hiding something. What would Jake think if he told him that a dragon came to him, challenged him to a 'game' and then told him that he's a dragon with a curse? It would be his dark past all over again only instead he could be ridiculed about having some kind of dragon fetish and the thought that he is one. Yahto looked down and saw Jake's skateboard, coming up with something to talk about. "Is that your skateboard?"

"Huh?" Jake was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Yahto's question. "My skateboard?" He looks down and sees his skateboard. "Oh! Yeah, this bad boy belongs to me!" He kicks his skateboard up and catches it in his hand, showing it to Yahto. "I've done some wicked moves with this baby! In fact, I'm supposed to enter the skating competition this Saturday with it! I was heading to the skate park to catch up on some practice until I saw you in here."

"Neat." A lame and simple response, but discussions about sports was never one of his interests. Sure he uses skates and can do well on them, but he rides them for fun and not for competition. "You must be pretty good to enter a skating competition."

Jake chuckled as he scratches the back of his neck. "Well I don't mean to brag but I'm as good as they come!" He notices the pair of skates dangling from Yahto's backpack and he couldn't help but be psyched. "Whoa! Are those pairs of skates yours?"

Yahto was slightly taken back by Jake's reaction of his skates. He looks behind him to the skates dangling from his backpack. "These? Yeah. My father got them for me for my birthday three years ago."

"Haha, wow! Those are some slick blades! I remember seeing a professional skater using that kind of brand in one of the X-Games competitions last year!"

Yahto smiled a bit. "Really?"

"Heck yeah! Quality skates you got there! Say, why don't we both hit the skate park? You can chill out with me and we can shred in the park all day!"

"W-What? Me? I don't know…"

"C'mon, Yahto! It'll be fun! I'll introduce you to my two best buds. We can hang out together." Jake encouraged. "It'll be a blast!"

Yahto scratched his head. He's never used to going to parks like the skate park where he'll be seen skating around, he always feels uncomfortable when all eyes are on him. Still, the idea sounds fun, and he'll meet other people and make friends.

_Keep your friends close and develop a strong heart._

Yahto remembered the dragon's words, to develop a strong heart and make new friends. This could help him after all. Yahto finally nods. "All right, let's go."

"Awesome!" Jake grins. Yahto's coming along and he'll also see how good he is on roller blades. "Let's goooo-whooaaa!" Little did he realized that when he turned around he was stepping on a puddle and, ironically like Yahto's excuse, he slips and falls hard to the ground.

"Ah!" Yahto lightly gasped at seeing Jake slip to the ground. "Are you all right?"

Jake rubs the back of his head as he slowly sits up, groaning a bit. He then looks at Yahto and chuckles, embarrassed about his little spill. "I meant to do that." He gets up while rubbing the back of his head. "Hahah…Well, let's go!"

Yahto blinked as Jake takes off, sort of admiring the boy's speed of recovering after a slip like that. Yahto spots a school science book on the floor, presuming it dropped from Jake's backpack when he slipped. "Jake!" Yahto cried as he picked up the book and ran after Jake. "You dropped your science book!"

As the two boys run off to the skate park, a tall figure stands on top of one of the neighborhood buildings watching them run off. The figure keeps its wings shut tight against its back, its eyes glowing green and the tattoos on its arms, shoulders and chest giving off a light glow. The skin color and the tattoos, no doubt this is the same dragon that tested Yahto's courage and will with one of his 'games'.

"_You never really told me, who exactly are you?"_

"_Like I said, I'm a dragon from days old. The name's Akuba, master of magic and king of games. Now, Yahto, awake."_

The dragon, Akuba, stands there while juggling a rock in his hand, a rather sadistic look on his face as he watches both Yahto and Jake run off to the skate park, unaware of the dragon watching them from above one of the buildings.

"Jake Long…" Akuba talks to himself as he juggles the rock. "The American Dragon…Impressive you made friends with him so early, Yahto…" Akuba stopped juggling the rock as he holds it in his fist, crushing it into dust and releasing it into the wind. "It's game time, Jake… We can't just let anyone interact with the Millenium Dragon" The dragon states with his familiar sadistic smirk. "Will you keep your word to help him when the time comes?"


	7. Day 3: Game of Sacrifice

The Skate Park, one of the most popular parks in New York to all teenagers who love the sport of skateboarding and rollerblading. Often you would see this park full of teenagers practicing and showing off their skills after school and on the holidays. It would be common to see this park packed on Christmas days when new skateboards and rollerblades are received as gifts on Christmas morning. It's also one of Jake Long's favorite locations in New York.

Yahto stood by the entrance of the park, reluctant to walk in as he eyed the park and everything in it. He has never been to a skate park like this, so many mini ramps, grind rails and half-pipes. Of course Yahto has never attended to a skate park; he only rollerbladed down the streets and such, he was never one to pull tricks or hit the ramps.

'_So many people…' _Yahto clutched at his backpack a bit tighter as he hesitated to go in. Jake Long already went inside to look for his friends, maybe he could still sneak away and save himself the stress and peer pressure…

"Yo, Yahto!" Too late. He turned his head to his left to a mini ramp close by the gates to see Jake waving at him along with his two friends, a boy and a girl. Yahto shyly lifted a hand at them and slowly stepped forward to the mini ramp. It's too late to bail now. As he got closer he recognized the two kids there. These two are his classmates, just like Jake. He saw them on his first day of school before the bell rang.

Turning his head to his friends he began as he motioned his head to Yahto. "Guys, I'd like you to meet Yahto." Jake then turned his head to Yahto and motioned his thumb toward his two friends. "Yahto, this is Spud and Trixie. My two best buds in all of the NYC."

Spud and Trixie held their hands up to Yahto in greeting. "Hi there."

"Wassup!"

Yahto gave a weak smile, slightly lowering his cap from the shyness. "Um…H-Hi…"

Jake glances over to Trixie and Spud to continue the introduction. "Yahto's new here, so I thought why not show him around, especially the skate park. You should see the pair of skates he has, they're quality blades, yo!"

Trixie spotted the skates dangling from Yahto's backpack and couldn't help to be taken back from the brand as well. "Dang, man! Those skates are looking tight there!"

"I'll say!" Spud adds. "That type of brand is one of few they use for the X-Games competitions! Ranked as one of the best roller skates in the history of ever!"

Yahto gave a nervous smile as he looked back to his backpack where his pair of roller blades is hanging from. He seriously didn't know these skates were of high quality and often used in skating competitions. He's not a hardcore fan of the sport to keep up with the latest and quality brands. "I wouldn't say quality…"

"Say, why don't you try 'em out and show us what you can do?"

Yahto jumped and looked at Jake. Try them out? Show them what he can do? Right here? Right now? In front of all these people…? "Y-You mean…Right now?"

"Well it certainly won't be after the sun goes down, boy." Trixie sarcastically replies.

Yahto's eyes wander to the ground. He takes a deep breath and nods. "A-All right." Rather timidly he takes off his backpack and sets it down next to a bench. Sitting down he slowly starts putting on his skates. How did he get himself into this? He doesn't know how to skate in a skate park such as this one. And with so many people here watching, he'll make a fool out of himself and everyone will be laughing at him. He won't be able to show his face again at this park or at school.

The boy stands after putting on his skates, slick black roller blades with blue along the sides and wheels. He looks down at his skates a bit before looking back at the trio. "Um, is a simple stroll around the place all right?"

Jake shrugged. "A warm-up? Sure."

A warm-up, right. Yahto isn't much of an athlete with skates; he just knows how to stroll around with them. He doesn't know any tricks, what can he do other than see him skate around the park? Well, no backing out now. With a deep sigh he propelled himself forward, slowly gliding over the ground with his skates as he slowly picks up speed, his heart thumping against his chest as he nervously looks around. So many skaters, they're very good. Performing ollies, going back and forth on the ramps pulling off tricks as they gain air. It makes him look silly just skating around like some kind of newbie…

"Yahto!" Jake cried out as he cupped his hands to his mouth. "Watch where you're going, bro!"

"What?" Yahto was so focused on seeing everyone else skating he didn't pay attention to where he was going and tripped over a railing meant to be grinded, not tripping. "Aaah!"

Jake, Trixie and Spud gasp at the spill Yahto just took and jump off the mini ramp to help him up. As Yahto slowly got up to his hands and knees he could hear the teasing laughter of someone laughing at him. Just what he wanted to avoid…

"Haha, what a loser!" A blonde boy with a red shirt teases while pointing at the boy and laughing. "Don't you know you're supposed to grind on them and not let them trip you down? Hahaha!"

"Ugh, lay off, Brad." Jake growled as he helped Yahto up to his feet with his buddies Trixie and Spud backing him up. "Even you started with so many face plants to the concrete."

Brad just gave him a smug look and held his skateboard up under his armpit, trying to look superior. "Hah, shows how much you know, twerp. The Bradster here has never fallen on his face, not even on his first try skateboarding; and not even on an easy way of skate like roller blades. Haha!"

"Just take a hike, Brad!" Trixie exclaimed with a thumb over her shoulder.

Brad simply complied with a laugh as he got on his skateboard and rode off. "Haha, later losers!"

"What a jerk." Spud scoffed.

Trixie nodded. "Mmm-hm, that's Brad for ya."

Jake simply shook his head at Brad's uncaring way and turned back to Yahto. "You okay, Yahto?"

Yahto simply had his head hanged. He was humiliated and couldn't find the courage to lift his eyes up to Jake and his friends. Not only did he fell and made a fool of himself in the middle of a skate park, but someone else ridiculed him for falling on an 'easy way to skate'. He didn't know how to lift his head up again to them. "I…I'm fine…"

"Yo, don't listen to Brad there, bro." Jake tried to make Yahto feel better. "He does this to everyone on a daily basis. Guy's got nothing better to do. He does this to us all the time and we just ignore him."

Trixie added to spite Brad and to lighten the mood. "Guy's got nothing to do at home and makes himself feel better by messing around with us."

As Jake and Spud agree to Trixie's comment Yahto couldn't help but lower his head a bit, his eyes down at his skates. They say he's got really good skates, but he can't use them for what they're worth. Maybe he should just leave and save himself even more humiliation…

"What you need is a little practice to get your groove on with those blades!" Yahto lifted his head up to Trixie, a bit startled by her sudden comment. "Just listen to us and you'll be gliding with the best of 'em!"

Yahto was a bit nervous to reply, as evident as he gave a very weak smile as he tried to say something. "I…I guess I could use…Some help…"

Spud smiled and added with some 'rock-on' gestures with his hands. "No worries, bro! We got your back! In fact, Jake's the best skater there is here. He's even entering the skating competition this weekend! If anyone can teach ya, he can!"

Jake couldn't help but smirk and blush a bit. "Heh! Nah bro, don't put me so high of a pedestal there. I just roll how I roll, know what I'm sayin'?"

Now Yahto really felt out of place. Combining their slang with their skills at skateboarding and roller blading, there's little common room here. But he's too deep into it now to even sneak away. With a gulp he gave a nervous nod, agreeing to the lessons they have in mind. "A-All right, I'll give it a try…"

And next thing he knew, he was really gliding places…Well, all over the ground either on his back or front side.

Jake was rather patient with him. He tried teaching him how to keep balance the more speed he got, including a few jump tricks here and there, mainly teaching how to keep his balance when going straight and turning. Easier said than done as Yahto kept falling and eating dirt almost every attempt to jump or turn without losing speed.

"No no! Keep y our knees a bit bent!" Jake hollered to Yahto. "You gotta keep your body low to go faster! Lean forward, not back! You'll take a nasty dive if you keep that up!" Almost on cue afterwards Jake winced and covered his eyes with his hands.

"Aaah!" Yahto just fell backwards.

Trixie was even worse. She wanted Yahto down in the skating bowl to learn how to do tricks and keep his momentum. She was more aggressive in what she tried to teach the boy, being more of a person who loves seeing people perform tricks. She was always persistent in having Jake learn new tricks for the skating competition, and she wasn't going to skip anything with Yahto despite him being a newbie. No pain, no gain.

"You call that a jump!" Trixie hollered as she watched a pitiful attempt from Yahto. "Puh-lease! My grandma can catch bigger air than you! Pick up some more speed! Bend your legs down like Jakie told ya! Feel the momentum and go with the flow!"

From the other side of the bowl Jake and Spud watched, each time wincing as Yahto fell and took dives from his attempts at jumping. "Um, Jake? Maybe Trixie's being a bit harsh with Yahto."

Jake responded with a nod and a sigh. "You know how she is. I hate being him now. I remember how it was with me back in the day."

Yahto slowly gets back up to his hands and knees, breathing heavily as he wiped his cheek from that last drop. This isn't going so well. He can't land that jump for the life of him. "This is too hard…" He looks up at where Trixie is standing. "Isn't there another trick I can do?"

Trixie shook her head as she crossed her arm. "No way, dawg. That's the easiest jump you can make!"

Yahto frowns. "But I…"

"Yo, Yahto! Don't give up!" Jake called out with his hands cupped to his mouth. "You're doing great! You almost landed that one! Remember what we told ya! Keep your eyes on the ground and make sure your feet touch it first!"

"Don't panic and you'll nail it!" Spud adds some encouragement.

Yahto takes a big sigh and nods. Despite all the falling and aching body parts, he's actually enjoying just being taught how to skate. Sure Jake is a little pushing and Trixie is a little scary, but they're actually being nice and encouraging…But some of the looks Trixie shoots at him he could do without.

"Okay…" Yahto mutters as he stands back up, balancing on his skates as he looks at the incline of the skating bowl in front of him. "I'll keep trying."

And continue trying he did. His falls and injuries continued, but he was determined. It's funny, by now he would've given up and left the park from the embarrassment, but with the encouragement from Jake and the others (not to mention their willingness to help him) made him stay. It was…Different from everything he went through in the past, what with people making fun of him and ridiculing him. It's a nice change for once for everything to be encouragement rather than laughter at his expense. It certainly made him feel better.

Now if only he could only finally get the hang of balancing himself on his skates at high speed and jumping! Before Trixie or Jake suggest trying grinding…

* * *

Meanwhile, while Yahto is busy making friends with the skate park concrete, Lao Shi and Fu are busy with their own trials and errors at their home. As they are aware, the Millenium Dragon once again walks among them. And if they want to have any chance at saving the entire world from this psychotic dragon's rage, they would have to create the only spell they know that can stop this dragon.

"This is it." Lao Shi flips to a page in their magic book and read the content. It's all here, the ingredients and instructions. "This is the spell that will help us in defeating the Millenium Dragon."

Fu Dog read over the contents of the page, making sure he understood this right. "The Petra Carcer spell?"

Lao Shi nods. "That is correct. It is a spell that has been used for centuries against all of the Millenium Dragon's incarnations. It is a powerful spell that when used it encases the victim in a shell of stone, petrifying it from within."

Fu rubs his chin. He believes he's heard of this spell before. Then it hit him, like an avalanche falling on his head. The rare times he did witnessed the Millenium Dragon hundreds of years ago, he does recall a type of spell they used on it to stop it. Every time, into stone the dragon became, only to be shattered into pieces. He shuddered at the thought…

"So uh," Fu began as he looked back at Lao. "the plan is to gather the ingredients for this powerful mumbo jumbo and use it for whenever the Millenium Dragon rears its ugly head, am I right?"

Lao Shi nods. "Precisely. It has been the only spell recorded to have ever been effective against the Millenium Dragon. It attacks the dragon's powerful chi and magic, causing it to overflow from the Dragon's chi's exit points and encase it into solid stone from the inside out."

Fu Dog was afraid of that. And the mere description of the spell caused a shiver up his spine. That would mean…Oh boy, Jake's friend…He's getting a one way ticket to the Stone Age. It's still hard for him to believe that kid is the Millenium Dragon…Does he even know? Is he aware of the danger that he is?

Lao Shi took note of Fu's pensative state and arched an eyebrow. "You seem troubled, old friend. Is something the matter?"

"Uhh, no! I'm fine, gramps. Just thinking about how I'm going to find the ingredients for this spell!" The Shar Pei immediately turned and took the book and held it up to his face, reading the list of ingredients needed for the spell. "Yup! Traces of rare rock minerals, some ogre slime, unicorn hoof metals. Oh yeah, some rare items on this list, gonna have to comb all over the Magic Shop District over at the usual for these babies."

"It is important that we must find each and every item on this list, Fu. This magic spell could be our only hope against the Millenium Dragon." Lao couldn't help but sigh as he began to think about this horrible dragon once more. He never met this dragon, but he's heard tales and stories about it, a powerful dragon that could rival the Dark Dragon himself.

But most of all, he fears for Jake's safety. "And we must be quick about it as well, before the time comes when Jake has to face it."

Fu frowned from behind the book. It's a pretty safe bet that Jake already faced the dragon, but only its human side. The good side.

Yahto…Oh man, Fu still can't believe what he saw last night at the park. He wouldn't have ever imagined betting his stash of treats on his usual betting events that one of Jake's friends was this evil creature of destruction. Heck, it was quite a surprise as well when they found out that Rose was the Huntsgirl, the Huntsmaster's most trusted Huntsman.

"We better get started, Fu Dog." Lao Shi declared as he made his way out of the shop. "The sooner we prepare the spell, the better."

Fu lowered the book from his face and gave a heavy sigh to himself, holstering the book under his arm and followed suit. "I hope the kid can take it well when he finds out too…"

* * *

What a day…

It was already 2PM in the afternoon, and boy what a sweat he worked up. Despite the bruised knees, elbows and body, Yahto had some fun. He at first was hesitant at staying at the park with Jake, Trixie and Spud, but now he's glad he stayed.

"That was a good try, Yahto." Trixie commented as she passed around water bottles, one for each as they sit on a bench near the vending machines of the park. "You're not as bad as you said you were, dawg!"

Jake laughed a bit as he held up his water bottle. "Haha, got that right! Despite making friends with the pavement all day long, you've actually pulled off some good jumps. You learn fast, bro!"

"Hehe…" Yahto chuckled nervously, blushing from the comments. He rotated his water bottle in-between his two hands, a bit shy from the attention and compliments. "It's harder than you guys make it look, but it's fun."

"You'll be skating with the pros before you know it!" Spud added before taking a big sip of his water.

"Speaking of pros…" Trixie turned her head over to Jake, giving him a look before speaking. "Ain't it time you start practicing again for the skating competition this weekend? You've been slacking off enough as it is!"

Jake mentally kicked himself as he rubbed the back of his head. "Awww man…! Geez, you're right…I've been so busy with so many things this week that I've been slacking off big time."

Yahto blinked as he overheard. "Skating competition?" That's right; Spud mentioned earlier that Jake is entering a skating competition this weekend.

"Yeah, remember? Jake's entering the skating competition this weekend." Spud reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and handed it over to Yahto. "It's gonna be big, and I mean big!"

Yahto looked curiously at the crumpled ball of paper before opening it up, revealing a rather worn out but readable flyer. It's about a skating competition all right, set for this Saturday at ten in the morning. There's a skateboard division and a roller blade division. First place wins a brand new skate board or roller blade (depending on the division entered) and signed by the top skaters of the sport.

"And I'm going for the gold!" Jake narrowed his eyes as he clenched his fists, a smirk forming in his face as his confidence grows. "Oh yeah! I'm gonna wipe the floor and steal the show!"

"Not with the way you're going you ain't!" Trixie brought it to Jake's attention as she prodded her finger to Jake's skull. "You haven't even gotten on your board all week for some practice! Even my grandma could roll wheels all around you!"

Spud blinked as he looked at Trixie in amazement. "Your grandma can skate?"

Jake gave a nervous giggle as he held up his hands defensively at Trixie. "Chill Trix, I know I know! It's just I've been very busy with a lot of stuff lately, you know how it is."

Trixie just kept giving Jake a look. "Mmm-hmm, yeah, I've heard that one before."

Yahto couldn't help but ask. "Busy with what?"

"Oh, you know. The usual stuff like figgg-iii…" For a moment Jake forgot that Yahto was even there and nearly spilled the beans. He managed to stop as he realized what he almost did. Even Trixie and Spud froze. "Fiiiii-iiiling some stuff at grandpa's shop! Yeah, that's right! Hahah, filing…"

Trixie and Spud sighed in relief, all while Yahto just blinked and arched an eyebrow, a little lost at what just happened.

Truth is, Jake has a secret that nobody must know. He's the American Dragon. He has the job of protecting New York from any magical mayhem and to protect the magical inhabitants of the city as well. With the exception of his family, Trixie, Spud and a very very select few, nobody must know about this secret. Not only could it bring bad results, but it would totally destroy Jake's rep.

Keeping this secret from Yahto wasn't any different.

"Uh, yeah, that's right!" Trixie was quick to make the safe. "You see, Jake's grandpa has a shop here in the NYC. And almost every day after school he has to help him around the shop. It's a real bummer and time waster if you ask me."

Spud nodded quickly. "Yeah yeah! It's a total drag, man."

Jake gave a nervous chuckle as he nodded in agreement before sighing in relief. Safe, and he thanked them both in his mind for the assist.

"Oh, that's why." Yahto was totally unaware that they were hiding something from him; he was either naïve or doesn't bother questioning what they're hiding. "I think it's great that you're taking time to help your grandpa at his shop, I'm sure he appreciates it."

"Heh, yeah. I'm sure he does." Jake looked at his half-empty water bottle while thinking about his gramps, Lao Shi. He's probably busy at his shop going through magic books finding a way to stop the Millenium Dragon, no doubt.

Millenium Dragon…Jake thought back to what Rose told him earlier this morning. The dragon's human identity…Jake didn't want to believe it, but the dragon's human form is sitting not too far from him…

Jake pushed the thought aside for now and stood up, adjusting his head gear and elbow pads. "All right, I better score in some practice time before the competition this weekend. I gotta be at my best to score that sweet skateboard!"

Spud beams as she leaps up to his feet, finally seeing the enthusiasm to practice that he wanted to see from Jake. "All right! Now that's what I'm talking about!"

"Yeah well you better start shifting into overdrive at the pace you're going." Trixie pointed out as she stood up as well, pointing at the mini ramps where a number of skaters were pulling tricks. "While you've been going around doing your thing I've seen some real talent entering this year. You better have some slick and fancy tricks in your pockets."

Jake simple smirked, playing it cool. "Hah, chill guys, it's cool! The Jake Meister here definitely has some secret moves up his sleeve. Just watch me!"

As the trio got on their boards and to the mini ramps Yahto simply eyed them as he sat at the bench, taking his last few drinks from his water bottle. They seem really determined to win, that autographed equipment must be really valuable for them.

They're really good friends to each other, it seems. Something Yahto wished he had. He never had any real friends, most of the people he used to know were either bullies or just knew him but…Well, weren't friends…

The boy looked to his right and watched from afar as Jake rode the ramp up and down, shooting up into the sky and either spinning or pulling a trick, practicing for that contest he surely wants to win, all while Trixie and Spud watch from the bottom and throwing advice and tips at him. Now that's friendship, and in a way Yahto was a bit envious.

_Keep your friends close and develop a strong heart._

"Akuba…" Yahto muttered. He remembers the words of that dragon. That reminds him of his current dilemma. Of his dreams. Yahto looked down at his wristband around his left wrist, subconsciously pulling on the wristband to reveal the birth mark that the band hid from the world.

"Millenium Dragon…" He echoed the name of the…thing inside of him. Akuba told him that he's the inheritor of the awesome power of the Millenium Dragon, but the power suffers from a curse that's been haunting the Millenium Dragon tree for what? A thousand years, was it? And he has to what? Fight the curse and break it? How is he supposed to do that? He can barely stand up for himself!

He was terrified. Plain and simple. He was always alone to do things by himself, but this…This is something that no one, not even his loving mother, could help him. He never felt so alone.

Keep your friends close and develop a strong heart? How is he supposed to do that when he has no friends?

No…No, he can't start shriveling up in his usual corner thinking that he's alone. So far he has met people like Jake, Trixie and Spud. They're the closest he's gotten to people here as friends. They've treated him well, haven't ridiculed him or turned a cold shoulder to him. He can trust them, right? Maybe he could find some strength in them, something that could inspire him to become stronger.

And besides, he's not alone. Despite knowing next to nothing about Akuba, he feels that he can trust him. And if he's telling the truth then he's always with him, keeping an eye over him just in case the curse acts up again. But then again, he can't help him in finding a way to beat the curse. It's something he has to figure out for himself…So, how _do_ you beat a thousand-year-old curse?

He might have to visit a library or something for that one.

A loud cheer broke Yahto's thoughts. Looking over toward the ramps Yahto caught a glimpse of Jake catching major air and pulling off one awesome trick, at least to Yahto's standards.  
_Wow! Jake's good._

"Wow!" Spud exclaimed as he gave a thumbs up. "That was awesome, Jake!"

"Wicked move there, Jakie!" Trixie approved with a nod of her head. "I take that was one of ya'll secret moves?"

Jake grinned as he stood at the top of the ramp in triumph. "You know it! One of my patented secret moves I cooked up just for the competition! This is going to be cake, yo!"

"I'll say! You got my vote!" Spud was getting excited. With a trick like that Jake is sure to win!

Trixie however wasn't completely assured. "The trick is good, but I'm not sure just one is going to cut it, Jakie."

"Hehe, don't worry! The AmDrag here has more moves up his sleeve!" To prove his point Jake jumped back onto the ramp with his board to practice his new moves.

As Yahto stood up from the bench and made his way to the ramp, someone is closely watching the group. It watched the young boy skating with intent, as if scanning and reading its frame and soul. Nobody could see this stalker. He was there, yet he wasn't. He watched through another's eyes, and nobody knew it.

_Jake Long…The American Dragon…Are you true to your word?_

Jake smirked as he launched off the ramp again, his speed increasing and getting major air. He needs to go higher for this one to work! He turns around as he reaches the ramp and with great speed he launches up from the other side, almost!

Just as he was about to descend his eyes caught the most unusual sight and gasped. Peeking through an alley across the street was a small goblin! What the heck is it doing out there!

"Say what…?" Jake watched in shock as the goblin ran across the street to behind another building. That troll is really out of place and shouldn't be here in the first place!

"Jake!"

"Huh? Whoa!" Losing his concentration was a bad mistake while on a skateboard and in the air. And before he could regain his composure the wheels of his skateboard clipped the edge of the ramp and he took a nasty flip forward and collides against the ramp on his stomach, sliding down to the bottom on his face.

Trixie, Spud and Yahto gasp and cover their eyes from the painful fall. Oh man, that had to hurt.

"Jake!" Trixie cries as the three of them rushes over to Jake's side.

"You okay?" Yahto was worried for Jake's well-being.

"Say something!" Spud jumped up to the ramp and kneeled down to Jake's side.

Jake groaned, his face throbbing in pain after such a nasty fall. Clutching his face a bit as he slowly got up to his knees, he shook away the pain before responding. "Nnngh, I'm all right…Just fine…"

Spud lightly patted Jake's back to help him get back to his senses. "What happened? You just zoned out and came diving down like a bomb."

Jake rubbed his head as he hesitated to say. Telling Trixie and Spud is no problem for him, but…

"Yahto?" Jake turned his head to Yahto. "I ummm…Kind of scrapped my knee on that fall. Could you go to the First Aid Station over there by the entrance and pick up some disinfectant cotton and a little alcohol napkin?"

"First Aid Station?" Yahto looked over his shoulder and spotted the red shack by the entrance of the park. "Okay, I'll be right back."

As Yahto turned and left toward the shack Trixie and Spud looked at each other and back at Jake, his knee looks fine with the way he got down from the ramp behind Yahto's back.

Spud blinked as he witnessed Jake getting off the ramp with little problem from his supposed injured knee. "Wait…I thought you said you were hurt?"

Trixie however simply folded her arms as she arched an eyebrow at the boy. "Jakie, what's up with you? I know there's nothing wrong with your knee. We always wear knee pads when we skate."

Jake rubbed the back of his head, feeling a bit bad about lying. "Sorry guys, but I had to get Yahto away from us." He looked to make sure that Yahto's at the shack before turning back to Trixie and Spud. "I saw a goblin across the street, it caught me by surprise that I spilled."

Trixie was rather surprised to hear that. "A goblin?"

Spud was just as surprised as she was. "I thought goblins weren't supposed to be in this part of the city."

"That's right. Goblins aren't supposed to be in this part of the city. I don't know what it's up to, but it won't break any rules on my watch!" Jake clutched his left fist into the palm of his right hand as he continued. "I gotta look into this, guys. Can you guys cover for me while I get back?"

Spud nods, agreeing to help. "Sure!"

Trixie agreed as well. "Leave it us, dawg!"

"Hehe, thanks guys, I owe you guys one!"

And with that they broke. Jake made sure to slip out of the park without Yahto noticing all while Trixie and Spud made their way to him. As luck would have it there was a little line to the shack, and those making the line would have their backs turned to the entrance and where Jake and the others were. Luckily for Yahto, the line wasn't much of a wait.

As Yahto finished with the shack and turned with the stuff Jake asked for he noticed Trixie and Spud going up to him as he was about to make his way back. "Hm? Trixie? Spud? What's going on?"

Trixie was quick to make an excuse as she grabbed Yahto's arm. "Um, I just remembered about this wicked roller blade trick I want you to try! You could use the practice and all, dawg!"

Yahto was hesitant to even get back on his roller blades with her teaching, she's tough! He needs a way out of this. "Ummm…But what about Jake? He's hurt and I have the-"

"Spud will take the stuff back to him!" She immediately cut him off as she took the stuff from Yahto's hands and shoved them to Spud. "Won't ya, Spudinski?"

"What?" Spud was absent-minded for a moment as the stuff was shoved into his hands. Suddenly realizing the plan and about Jake's dilemma he quickly jumped into gear. "Oh! Yeah, don't worry bro! I'll just take these back to Jake and he'll be good as new in no time!"

Trixie winced a bit as Spud almost blew it, but managed to keep her role as she continued to try to keep Yahto busy. "Yeah, what he said! Now let's go, dawg. You won't learn how to skate like a pro by just standing here!"

Yahto was a bit taken aback from the tug on his arm from Trixie, she's really determined to teach him how to skate! He'll be coming back home with a lot of bruises tonight. "Aah! OK OK! Just stop pulling on my arm! Aaah!"

And there they go, once again to practice and for Yahto to get more acquainted with the skate park concrete. Good luck Yahto, you're going to need it.

Meanwhile, Jake was outside of the park and crossing the street. He looked around, trying to remember where he saw that goblin run off to.

As much as he would like to stay at the park to continue practicing, this is something he just can't ignore. A goblin on this side of the city is pretty suspicious, considering they shouldn't be anywhere near this place. Usually this means bad news. And as the American Dragon he can't let things like this go without checking it out. He's gotten in a lot of trouble ignoring these kinds of things before, and he's learned his lesson…Mostly.

"Where did that goblin go?" He muttered as he skated down an alley. He remembers seeing the goblin run in here. He couldn't have gotten far.

He stopped by a three way crossing and looked down each direction. Well this stinks, where now?

A sudden sound caught Jake's attention, and when he looked down a path he saw the shadow of a goblin.

"There you are!" Jake hollered as he rushed down the path, turning a corner and surprising the goblin, who was in the middle of raiding a trash bin. The startled goblin fell out from the trash bin and immediately rolled over and ran off.

"H-Hey!" Jake got on his skate board and followed the goblin. The goblin tried to slow Jake down by bumping over trash cans and other stuff in Jake's path, but he managed to Ollie over the obstacles and kept the pace. "Stop, goblin! You're not getting away!"

Jake turned a corner and stopped, his lips forming into a triumphant smile. The goblin just ran into a dead end, and there's no way out.

"Hah! It's over, goblin!" Jake smirked as he stepped closer to the cowering goblin. "You can't get away from the American Dragon! Now, how about telling me what you're doing all the way out here? You goblins aren't supposed to be on this side of town."

"Hmhmhm…" A chuckle rang out of nowhere. "I told him to…"

"W-What?" Jake was startled and looked his surroundings, seeing nothing but walls and the goblin. "Who's there?"

Jake heard footsteps. He looked to his left and from the shadows something big walked out! Jake was shocked at the creature who greeted him from the darkness. It was black with a tan underbelly and red hair. It's menacing green eyes looking down at the young boy as wicked-looking tattoos go from its wrists up its arms, shoulders and chest. It looked mean, dangerous, and it's intimidating smirk was creeping Jake out! And to top it all off, it's a dragon!

The goblin sneaked its way toward this dragon and slowly it disintegrated into a purple smoke. This smoke swirled and met the dragon's outstretched hand, absorbing into it as the dragon's tattoos glowed for a moment. "It's a wonder how magic works, eh Jake?"

Jake took a step back. This dragon knows his name? But how…?

Suddenly the dragon took a step forward to stand in front of Jake. No time to ask questions! If he lured him here with that goblin, then he's trouble! "You lured me here with that goblin? Picking a fight! Well you found one!"

"Dragon up!" Jake cries as he throws his arms to the side and focuses deep into his Dragon Power within, closing his eyes and concentrating on the transformation. Flames engulf his body as his height increases up to around 7 feet, his arms and legs grow longer and bulkier as his chest and torso expands, a strong tail forms as wings sprout from his back. His head was next as it changes to the shape of a dragon's head as his black spiky hair changes to green spikes from the top of his head down his back and tip of his tail and sharp claws arm his fingers and toes.

Freshly transformed Jake flexed his claws and growled at the opposing dragon, ready for anything.

"The American Dragon." The dragon stated with the smirk still adorning his face.

"Who are you?" Jake demanded to know as he stood in a defensive position. "What do you want from me?"

"What do I want from you?" The dragon chuckled as he shook his head. "What I am after is not something you can just hand over."

Jake arched an eyebrow, a bit confused at this dragon's word play. "Say what? Make some sense, yo!"

The dragon merely chuckled at the young dragon's reply. "Do you wish to find out?"

Jake was starting to get a little creeped out. He took a step back to get some space between them, just in case those were fighting words. The dragon however merely narrowed his eyes a bit as he witnessed the American Dragon taking a step back. "Hey, that's dangerous."

Before Jake knew it his foot stepped out of the ground, causing him to nearly trip backwards and fall down a…Pit? What? As Jake regained his footing by taking a step forward he looked over his shoulder and was left even more confused. "What the?"

He's by the edge of the top of a building? What's the deal here? A second ago he was at the dead end of an alley facing this dragon! How in the world did he suddenly get to the top of a skyscraper all of a sudden in the blink of an eye? Not to mention that it's not pure night time! It was the middle of the day! How could the sun have gotten down already?

Jake was flabbergasted, but he knew who to blame for this. "You." He turned back to the dragon, who was merely standing there with his tattoos giving off a faint glow as his red hair flowed in the wind. "What kind of mumbo jumbo did you do? Where did you take me!"

The dragon merely chuckled before answering. "What's wrong? You don't recognize the night life of your city? And from the roofs of skyscrapers, no less."

Jake didn't know what to make of this dragon. But one thing's for sure, if he used his magic (Or whatever he did) to take them to the roofs of New York's buildings and during the night, there's going to be a night time rumble where nobody can interrupt them. "Looking for a place to fight?" He growled.

The dragon only lifted a hand to himself with his eyes in a slight glare, his smirk never leaving his face. "Fight? You hurt me, my friend. Nothing of the sort."

"Say what?" Arching an eyebrow, now Jake is even more confused by this dragon's mysterious nature. "If you're not looking for a fight, then what _do_ you want?"

"A test." The dragon lowered his hand and folded his arms, the tattoos on his arms glowing once again. "It's game time, American Dragon."

"Game?" Jake spat out, puzzled by this. A game? What in the heck is this dragon smoking? What kind of trick is he trying to pull on the AmDrag? Well whatever, he'll blaze through this and get that dragon.

The dragon merely resumed as his face went serious, his head dipping down a bit. "Friendship is like a fragile ship floating out at sea. When doubt and distrust begin to take root, the ship's bottom begins to get riddled by cracks. Before you know it, the ship fills with water as it struggles to stay afloat. In your case, your ship is headed toward an iceberg. An iceberg of duty, American Dragon…"

"Say what?" Now Jake knows this dragon is smoking something. If that isn't the most messed up and nonsensical proverb he's ever heard. It even beats his grandpa's…Wait, friendship? Doubt? Duty? Does this dragon know about…?

"You are at a crossroad, American Dragon…" The dragon continued as he began to step back, stepping into the darkness. "And soon your choice will be known…Through a game of sacrifice…"

"Game of…Wait!" Jake stepped forward to go after the dragon, but the dragon disappeared into the darkness, nowhere to be seen.

_The rules are simple. Follow your instincts, or follow your orders as the American Dragon. Your actions determine whether you win or lose this fateful game._

Jake looked around, trying to find where the dragon is hiding. He couldn't have disappeared into thin air like that! Then again, if a dragon can use his magic mumbo jumbo to turn day into night and take them away to the roofs of New York buildings, he can probably do anything.

But what does this wacko think he's doing? Making him play a game? Say what? He has more important things to do then to just play this game of his. Follow his instincts, or follow his orders as the American Dragon? This dragon is nuts!

Jake was about to leave when he froze and tensed his muscles. For some reason he felt like someone is watching him…And whoever it is it's very close. Little did he know how right he was, for someone or something is standing over him at the top of the roof behind him, looking down at him.

Jake's senses caught the sound, and when he turned he gasped to his attacker leaping toward him with a flying kick.

"Whoa!" With a gasp Jake brought up his arms and crossed them over his face, blocking the kick from connecting to his face. Wow, that was a tough kick!

Pushing the attacker away and rubbing his sore arm Jake got a good look at his opponent as he landed gracefully in front of him, taking on an offensive pose in preparation for a fight. "No…" Jake's eyes widen as he took a step back. "It can't be…!"

His opponent is wearing a black ninja-like uniform with purple markings on his sleeves and pants, a mask concealing his face and hiding his identity. On his back he carries a green staff, the tip glowing with magical energy. If Jake didn't know any better, this is none other than a member of…

"The Huntsclan…!" Jake gasped, unable to believe what he's seeing. He couldn't believe it. It couldn't be possible.

The Huntsclan had their final stand almost a year ago. They tried to destroy the Magical World and all Dragons with their latest performance-enhancer product. It was a magical crystal they reverse-engineered and adapt into their technology. When the Huntsclan wore the device it enhanced their strength and performance to even rival the Dragon Council and its members.

The device had a diabolical catch though. Whoever wore them would become mindless puppets of whoever was holding the remote of these devices, mind control so to speak. The orders within these devices were routed from a machine in their headquarters, and it controlled the wearers of these devices to infiltrate and attack the Dragons and any magical beings.

This was done as a safety precaution to control the fear within the Huntsclan, just in case anyone got cold feet and would deny or run away from the mission at the sound of attacking the heart of the Dragon Council, where they would most likely fight against every Dragon in existence.

Those who wore the devices were never in control of themselves, couldn't speak, couldn't control their actions.

It wasn't until they wiped out all of the Huntsclan did they found out about all of this. They quickly destroyed all of the devices, but the controlling machine was never found.

They called this fight the Huntsclan Purge. Mainly because it was believed the entire Huntsclan was wiped out in this fight at the hands of countless Dragons who participated against the fight, many of them lost their lives.

Jake's grandpa, Lao Shi, was always the survivor. He survived against the Dark Dragon, numerous fights with the Huntsclan, and countless other untold stories. He was among the survivors of the Huntsclan Purge.

However, he finally met his end at the hands of…Well, no one is sure.

He was killed a few days ago, when a lone hunter was rumored to be spotted. Rumors say it's a survivor of the Huntsclan Purge. Lao went to investigate the sightings. He never came back.

Seeing this lone hunter in front of him, Jake is certain this is the lone hunter his grandfather was tipped off about, the one who murdered him.

Anger and rage began to boil up inside of the young Dragon. He clenched his hands into fists, clutching so tightly the claws could pierce through his skin at any moment. "You…! You killed him, didn't you…!"

The hunter merely returned the glare, not a word escaping from his lips.

Jake didn't need to hear anything. He merely charged in with a fist reaching back for a punch, a battle cry coming out his mouth. "Raaaahh!"

The hunter leaped up into the air, dodging the punch as it smashes into the wall behind, punching through the concrete. The enraged Dragon took out his fist from the wall and leaped up after the hunter, jumping from roof to roof chasing after his grandfather's killer.

The hunter stopped on one of the bigger roofs and turned, watching the Dragon land on said roof growling at him. The hunter charged and leaped for a flying roundhouse kick. Jake ducked his head to avoid it, responding with a quick left hook, which the hunter dodged by crouching down low and throwing a sweep kick at Jake's legs.

Jake yelped as his legs were kicked from under him and caused him to trip, but with the quick use of his tail he managed to plant it firmly down on the ground and suspending him in mid-air. With his legs in front of him Jake took aim and kicked at the hunter with both legs, catching the hunter off-guard and knocking him back against the wall.

The hunter staggered a bit while Jake got to his feet and glared at his opponent. The hunter, after regaining his composure, reached back and took out the staff, wielding it in his hands as the tip began to glow brighter.

Jake gasped as the shots were being fired straight at him. He flew into the air with the use of his wings and dodged the best his could, lean left and right, descending and ascending. Anything he could do to avoid eating one of those shots. He had to stop this guy!

Taking in a breath Jake spat out a fireball just when the hunter shot another energy shot from the staff. The two shots collided with each other, resulting in an explosion that blinded the hunter's sight, forcing both the hunter and Jake to shield their eyes from the bright collision.

When the explosion subsided, the battle raged on!

The two combatants rushed at each other again and exchanged blows. Jake's superior strength proved to be deadly to the hunter, but the hunter's speed and dexterity proved to be a challenge for Jake to land a blow on. They jumped from roof to roof, chasing and following each other, sometimes even fighting in the air in-between roof jumps.

All the meanwhile a shadow watched them from the tallest building in the area, a faint glow emitting from its chest and arms. It was the Dragon that sent Jake here, and he was enjoying the show with a smirk plastered on his face, his hair swaying in the night breeze.

He's not bad, the Dragon thought to himself as he watched the fight. So the American Dragon can fight well after all, with the right motivation, of course. But will it cloud his judgment now that he's in a blind rage to avenge his grandfather's death? He'll see soon enough…

Back to the battle at hand, Jake took a step back as he gasped for breath. That kick to his stomach left him a bit dazed and made him lose his breath. His body was bruised all over, and his left shoulder was slightly burned from one of the staff's energy shots nailing him. But he's cool, he can still fight. He has to, for his grandfather's sake…

The hunter wasn't faring much either. The Dragon's harder punches began to take his toll on the hunter's small figure. Compared to Jake's tougher armor from his scales and endurance as a Dragon, he was outmatched, but he had the speed and agility. But such ferocity from the Dragon wasn't anticipated…

They both knew this was the final round.

"Haaaaa!" Jake cried as he charged in for his attack. He threw a left and right hook, followed by a roundhouse kick and a jump kick. The hunter managed to avoid them with great agility, crouching low and leaning to the sides.

The hunter took the opening after the attacks and leaped, turning around in a full 360 with the leg outstretched for a kick. And it connected to Jake's face with a loud thud, Jake's face whipped to the side and dazing the Dragon.

The hunter landed and, grabbing the staff tightly in his hands, stepped forward and rammed the staff into Jake's stomach. Dragon's have soft underbellies, and by striking the Dragon to the stomach like this it would cause them a good amount of pain. Follow it with a point blank shot from the staff at full power, and it could kill.

However, instead of feeling the staff striking into a Dragon's belly, it felt like something stopped it.

Jake slowly moved his head to glare down at the stunned hunter. Despite a kick to the face like that the Dragon managed to catch the staff before it could strike the soft underbelly. Did the hunter underestimate the Dragon? Or was the blind rage the Dragon's in managed to enhance his endurance, acting purely on adrenaline and anger?

Wanting the hunter to feel this one, Jake yanked the staff in to his side, forcing the hunter to stumble forward from the pull. And with one arm, Jake bent it for the elbow to face the hunter. "Grraaaahh!"

And he extended it out, striking the hunter in the face with the elbow as hard as he could, the momentum from the yank of the staff increasing the force of the blow.

Jake watched, with much satisfaction, as the hunter flew back from the strike and fell to the cold hard roof floor, lying motionless from the damaging attack. If he broke the hunter's nose or rammed the bone into his brain, he was satisfied either way.

"Hahh…Hahh…Hahh…" Breathing heavily from exhaustion Jake dropped the staff near the hunter. He knew the hunter was still alive, and he wasn't going to let him live. He killed his grandpa, and now he's going to pay. That and this guy is the last member of the Huntsclan, he just can't let him get away!

"You killed my grandfather…" Jake growled as he stalked forward to the downed hunter. He kneeled down, flexing his claws to ready the final blow and reaching to the hunter's mask with his other hand, pulling off the mask to reveal the hunter's true face. "Who are you!"

What Jake saw next was like taking a knife and stabbing it right through his heart.

"No…" Jake's throat tightened, he could barely even whisper the word. He froze as he slowly lowered his readied arm; his eyes widened in horror as his chest began to heave, breathing heavily from the shock.

That face…Those blue eyes…That blonde hair…No…It couldn't be…Of all people…Why…

Jake couldn't bring himself to move, he was completely frozen stiff. The shock was unbearable. He swore he was going to die of a heart attack right then and there. It was too much to bear, the pain, the sorrow. This can't be real…!

"Hai-ya!"

"Aaagh!"

A powerful blow struck Jake across the face. The staff he threw away was near for her to grab, and she used it to strike Jake off of her.

The Dragon fell to the ground with a loud thud, his head throbbing from the impact as he lied on his back, dazed and in a lot of pain. As his composure was returning he caught a glimpse of her getting up and standing over him, ready to strike the staff down on him for the killing blow.

"No!" He cried as he held out his hands and grabbed at the staff, struggling with her, trying to keep her from committing a big mistake. "Nnngh! Rose! Please! Why are you doing this! How could you…How could you kill…?"

Jake choked; he couldn't bear the thought that Rose, the woman he loved, could do such a horrible thing. To kill his grandfather…

But that look in her eyes, that glare, it just wasn't her. It was almost as if…As if…

Suddenly Rose's glare softened, and soon she grit her teeth and howled in pain as she released the staff and backed away, clutching her head as if struggling with something inside her thoughts. She twitched and convulsed, looking as if she's trying to resist something, fighting against a force.

Jake witnessed the torment as he slowly got up, clutching his left arm as he breathed heavily from exhaustion. It all came together in his mind, and now he knows what's going on.

"I know what's going on…!" He whispered as he ran toward Rose and held her still with one hand to her shoulder and with his free hand he used his claws to rip open a part of the suit on her chest.

There! Attached to her chest! That's it! That damned performance-enhancing device of the Huntsclan they used to attack the Dragon Council with! That terrible device that, when worn, brainwashes everyone and became the Huntmaster's puppets, locking away their feelings and emotions and, essentially, becoming the perfect warrior.

_I gotta take this thing off of her!_

Before Jake could get the chance Rose pulled a back flip kick, kicking Jake right under his jaw and freeing herself from his grip. The device got a hold on her again; she can't control her actions or even her thoughts!

Wait, no. That's not true. When Jake tried talking to her a few seconds ago she responded, causing her to twitch out of control as if fighting against the device's influence!

"Nngh…Rose…" Jake began as he rubbed his chin. He raised an arm to block a high kick from Rose, trying to think what he can do to get to that device. "Please, stop…I don't want to hurt you!"

He blocked a right hook and crossed his arms to block another kick. He doesn't want to hurt her, he has to find a way to get to that device and get it off of her! "Rose, please! It's me, Jake!"

She jumped for a leaping roundhouse kick, which Jake dodged by crouching low. He then jumped back to gain distance, but Rose is determined to keep the fight at close-range. She threw punches and kicks as hard and fast as she could, all Jake could do was dodge and block her attempts, all while trying to make her snap back to sanity.

"Please stop, Rose! Come on, snap out of it!" Jake's arms were starting to get sore from all the beating he was getting. He just can't bring himself to hurt her anymore, not even if she was the one who…Oh he can't even think about it anymore! It just breaks his heart…

"What's wrong?" The Dragon responsible for all of this commented to himself as he watched the fight from a faraway rooftop. He was enjoying the show until this turn of events happened. "She's one of the Huntsclan, the organization all Dragons swear to destroy, one of the top threats to the Magical World. It's your duty to dispose of them _and_ her."

He couldn't help but smirk as the American Dragon continued to go on the defensive, trying to find another way to end this battle. This is the crucial point of all of this, wherever this fight takes will speak volumes about Jake. "So why do you hesitate?" He continued with his little speech, as if talking to Jake trying to influence him down one road. "Fulfill your duty as the American Dragon. Destroy her!"

But Jake couldn't bring himself to destroy her. He much rather prefer holding this defense stance as she pummeled him. The Dragon was slowly dropping to his knees from defending all of her blows, some of them breaking through his defense and striking his ribs or face.

It was no use; she's not responding or listening. But he couldn't bring himself to attack her, not anymore. Rose's his friend, the one who helped him fight against the Huntsclan after bringing her back from the Academy. She's been there for him; she even came back for him when he was about to leave the prom because his breath stunk. She helped him through anything!

And…Most of all…He loves her!

"Rose, stop!" Jake shouted at the top of his lungs, his arms nearly ready to drop from the abuse they've been through.

Then, it happened. Rose stopped her attacks, she must've heard him. The device began to act up again, and Rose began to scream as if she was in pain.

This is his chance. Even though his body was battered, he had the will to do this. With a grunt he got up and held her still as he grabbed onto the device. With a mighty yell he began to yank at the device and, with his mighty Dragon strength, the device came clean off of her, crushing it into a tin can in his powerful hand, destroying the evil device.

That did the trick. Rose backed up as her pain subsided, the device's grip releasing on her. Exhausted, Rose began to fall back, only to be held up by Jake's arms.

"Rose…" Jake began as he held her up in her arms, slowly kneeling down on one knee and gently shaking her. "Rose…!"

Rose moaned as she came to and slowly opened her eyes, the evil intent in her eyes now gone. "J-Jake…?"

Jake couldn't help but smile. "Rose…You're okay…"

Rose smiled but then it soon faded away, feeling at her chest as she realized what she had done. "The device…It's finally gone…But…Oh God, I was so aware…That thing it…" The tears began to form in her eyes as the memories came back, unable to believe the savagery she had performed while controlled, especially about…

"Jake…" She whispered as she looked back up at Jake. "I'm so sorry…So so sorry…" With tears in her eyes Rose suddenly went limp, passing out from the exhaustion and the physical strain she must've been in from having that device controlling her and acting as an eternal steroid.

Jake soon broke down into tears as well, closing his eyes as he tried to hold back from crying "No, Rose…It wasn't your fault…!" Unable to hold it back, he broke down into a sob, still holding Rose in his arms. "It wasn't your fault! You don't have to apologize to me! I don't hate you!"

Gritting his teeth in anger he opened his eyes in a glare up toward the night sky, tears rolling down his cheeks. "I'll find that stupid machine and turn it into a bunch of bolts! I'll find the guy that did this to you! And I swear I'll make that loser pay, for you and my grandpa!"

He looked back down at Rose as she lay unconscious in his arms, his heart aching by the mere thought of what she went through during this. The torment, the pain of having to slay…No, he won't think of that any longer! It wasn't her fault!

"Rose…" Jake muttered as he cradled her in his arms. But then an unexpected turn of events triggered, and Rose suddenly disappeared from his arms in a puff of black particles.

"Rose…?" Jake was stunned, his eyes widen in shock as the woman he loves just disappeared. What happened to her? What? What!

"Rose!" He jumped up to his feet and looked around. Nobody but himself is up here. But what? Did magic do this? Who? Who took her from him! Where is she? Who did this?

"ROSE!"

Before he knew it he heard someone behind him clapping.

A quick turn of his heel he comes face to face with the black Dragon who's been witnessing the whole thing from another rooftop, and he looks quite pleased at what he witnessed. "What a pleasant show, young Dragon. And quite a nice twist too."

Jake glared at the dragon. Oh this Dragon must be the one who took Rose away! He knows magic, after all!

"You…" Despite having a battered body Jake charged at the Dragon, ready to punch his light's out. "What did you do to Rose?"

The Dragon simply took a step to the side and lifted his arm, catching Jake's fist in his hand with ease and squeezing it to prevent Jake from ever getting his hand back, much less throw another fist at him with said hand. "Hey now, calm down. The Rose you saw was merely a creation of my magic. Simply put, a fake Rose."

Jake obviously didn't look happy, not in the mood for this. "Fake?"

"That's right." The Dragon continued with a faint smirk. "I simply created her from samples of your memories. All that you experienced today was nothing more than my magic creeping into your mind and implanting fake memories and altering your personality, creating a believable and quite realistic world of fiction."

"World of…Fiction?" Jake wasn't getting any calmer, he was just getting furious. "Are you telling me that you sucked me into a videogame of yours just to play with my feelings? That's not cool, yo! That was Rose! She's my girl!"

Jake tried with his free hand to punch the Dragon in the face, but the Dragon leaned his head aside to dodge it. In a quick motion the Dragon lifted his arm, pushed Jake's outstretched arm aside for a bit and locked his arm around it, pulling it down and locking it under his armpit and placing his hand on Jake's bicep, locking his arm in place and putting some force into it and hurting his already battered arm.

While Jake grunted and reacted in pain, the Dragon continued. "Listen, American Dragon. I am not your enemy. Antagonize me all you want, but I'm not here to fight. I'm here to simply ask for your help."

In-between his grunts Jake opened one eye to look at the Dragon square in his eyes. "Ask me…For help? You…Have a funny way of getting…My attention…Agh!"

"Hehe." With a chuckle the Dragon released his hold on Jake, letting the young Dragon to back away while gingerly rubbing and clutching his strained arm. "What you just went through is what I like to call the Game of Sacrifice."

As Jake tended to his injured arm, the Dragon continued to explain. "You were tempted by your anger, the fear that such a dangerous hunter was out and about, including the desire for revenge of the death of your loved one. All of this, combined with your duty as the American Dragon, is playing a vital role as we speak."

"Say what…?" Jake lifted his head up to the Dragon after attending to his arm. He doesn't have an inch of a clue of what this Dragon means. All of this is playing a vital role as we speak…?

Hold the phones…Jake remembers he's in a current crisis about a new threat in the city. The Milleniun Dragon, who's really…Wait, does this Dragon mean…?

"You know what I'm talking about, do you?" The Dragon doesn't even need to ask this, it's obvious Jake is now on the same page as him. "Your own promise and wish to help a certain someone…The Millenium Dragon."

Jake shouldn't be surprised that another Dragon knows about the Millenium Dragon. After all, didn't Fu and G tell him that the entire Dragon Council is aware of this monster and has terrorized the Magical World for what, every hundred years in a span of a thousand years? But how does this Dragon know the Millenium Dragon is Yahto? In fact, how did he know that he's trying to think of another way to both deal with the Millenium Dragon _and_ save Yahto?

Jake wants to try to get to the bottom of this. "Hold the phones here. You know who the Millenium Dragon is? And how did you know that I-"

"I saw you." The Dragon interrupted him. "I also sensed your desire to help him. You have a strong heart despite your recklessness and sometimes irresponsible behavior. But most importantly, you can be quite true to your word, and ultimately show a great sense of responsibility."

"However," The Dragon resumed. "While you seem to have a good track record on helping others, this is a very serious and dangerous matter; one that conflicts with both your feelings and your responsibility as the American Dragon."

Jake was slowly grasping at what this Dragon was saying. "So…you're telling me that all of this was-"

"A simulation, if you may." The Dragon once again interrupted him. "What you experienced here was the conflict between your heart and your duty. On the one hand, your duty as the American Dragon leads you with no choice but to follow your orders to slay the Millenium Dragon. Or, in the case of this simulation, destroy the hunter."

"On the other," the Dragon resumed with the explanation. "You felt there was another way through the situation, in this case the brainwashing device the hunter was wearing. Despite your anger and rage toward the counterfeit memory of your grandfather being slain, you resisted quite well from taking our revenge. Quite impressive, American Dragon. And the type of strong will the boy needs by his side to defeat the weakened curse."

Jake was beginning to understand the Dragon's intention. He needed someone to help Yahto who wouldn't turn on him if the situation gets worse. Granted, he doesn't think he'll forgive this Dragon for implanting fake memories that his grandfather was killed by Rose (Of course it wasn't her fault to begin with), he can see the symbolism of such action. Yahto doesn't seem like a bad guy to commit the horrors the Millenium Dragon is said to do. And he would guess that the curse acts like that device he removed from Rose, brainwashing him and controlling him for evil.

"I get it…" Jake began as looked at the Dragon with a determined look. "This was a test for me, wasn't it? Well as you saw me, I passed with flying colors, didn't I?"

"I'll admit, you performed a bit better than I expect."

"Hah!" Jake couldn't help but smirk, his cocky attitude catching on again. "Yeah, baby! The AmDrag here beat your test with A+, yo! Haha! That's right! Not a C or a D, but A+!"

"I hope you're through with your little celebration." The Dragon interrupted (For the third time) the prideful young Dragon. "You may have won my Game of Sacrifice, but the situation at hand will be far worse than this little simulation."

With his eyes growing serious, the Dragon continues. "You will have to go against your grandfather's words and the whole Dragon Council. You'll even put the whole Magical World at risk. This is a huge gamble, one that you might not like."

Despite the warnings about going against everything and everyone to help a friend, Jake was still determined to go through with this. "Hey, no sweat. Wouldn't be the first time I go against grandpa's wishes. Besides, this is for a friend. I'm not gonna slay someone for something that they don't have any control over on." Jake paused as he recalled on what he just went through. Despite it all being fake, he wouldn't know what to do if he had killed Rose. "And you saw that I couldn't…"

The Dragon nods, acknowledging Jake's determination. "Good, you're determined and inflexible, this is good. With you by his side, I have no doubt that the child will be able to overcome the curse's influence and grow spiritually stronger."

"Heh, chill, bro. I'll help him, no problem. I also have Trixie and Spud by my side. You can trust them too, they're cool."

It seems like Yahto is in good hands after all. But will he able to overcome the curse in time? That's something they don't have much of…Time.

Looking up at the night sky the Dragon spots the full moon. "As easy as you make it sound to be, there's one obstacle trying to hinder us…" He adds as he looks back at the American Dragon. "Are you familiar with the red moon? The Moon of the Dragon?"

The Moon of the Dragon? Jake blinked as he looked up at the moon. Where did he hear of that name before…?

"The Moon of the Dragon…?" Jake scratched his chin and shook his head. "Doesn't ring any bells. Should I know about that?"

"You should." The Dragon replied with a slight height of volume to his voice, almost as if he's angry that Jake doesn't know about it at all. "The Moon of the Dragon is an important symbol of the Dragon's power. It occurs once every hundred years on the night of a full moon. When this night arrives, the moon turns blood red, and in turn the moon favors the Dragons in the land, increasing their strength tenfold."

If Jake was drinking soda he would've choked upon saying that. "Whoa, hold the phones here! Are you saying that when this red moon shows up, every Dragon in the world gets a sudden power up for the night?"

A simple nod from the Dragon causes Jake to think of many possibilities. Just imagine everything he could do on one night when the red moon is out. He could stop Pandarus with little effort, find and collect the remaining Aztec Skulls with ease before the Huntsclan finds them. He could even put a stop to the Huntsclan once and for all!

Not to mention, the sudden power from the red moon could give Jake's muscles an upgrade for the night. Suddenly the young Dragon got an image of himself in his head as a very muscular Dragon with impressive biceps. He'd be the most respected Dragon in the NYC!

"Empty your mind of such pleasurable thoughts, American Dragon!" The Dragon suddenly scolded, his usual smirk gone as he plainly saw what Jake was thinking. "The Moon of the Dragon is a sacred symbol for the Dragon Council and all Dragons alike. We take its gift seriously and do not use it for personal gain or any of the sorts!"

Jake winced from the scold and rubbed the back of his head. "Geez, sorry! You don't have to blow a gasket." It's starting to get a little disturbing at how this Dragon can easily read his mind.

"Besides, we don't have the luxury of taking the Moon of the Dragon's gift for our help. For this time, the Moon of the Dragon is our enemy."

"Say what?" Jake spat out all of a sudden. Granted he didn't know a thing about it, the way this Dragon described the Moon of the Dragon it clearly said 'I'm the Moon of the Dragon and I'm here to help you against your enemies'. What does he mean that this time it's their enemy?

The Dragon soon began to explain to the confused American Dragon. "While it's true that the Moon of the Dragon helps us Dragons with increasing our strength, it also aids the terrible curse."

"W-What? How? How can it also help the Millenium Dragon's curse?"

"The curse is a part of the Millenium Dragon, so the Moon's power also affects the curse as it affects the Millenium Dragon. I cannot tell you how many times the Moon has caused the curse to completely overtake the victim."

The Dragon shakes his head as the memories come back, but he maintains his composure (and anger) in check as he explains. "Many times past Millenium Dragons succumb to the curse because their wills were weak. However, few Millenium Dragons have displayed strong wills to resist the curse's pull. However, where the curse itself failed it finds success with the Moon's help. The Moon itself is like a deadline for a Millenium Dragon to defeat the curse. Otherwise, they're gone forever."

So that's it. If Yahto doesn't beat the curse by the time the next Red Moon surfaces, he's going to be instantly possessed by the more powerful curse. Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse, out comes this whole moon business. In other words, the Moon itself is to blame for some of the past Millenium Dragon attacks.

By how the Dragon began to talk about the Moon of the Dragon, Jake was a little scared to ask this question. "So…When is the next Moon of the Dragon then?"

The Dragon closed his eyes and began to use his magic to calculate the last time the Moon of the Dragon was out and for when it is expected to come out next. He opened his eyes after a few seconds and he doesn't seem too happy. "In three days."

Three…Three days? How can that be? That's…Way too short! This is almost as bad as almost meeting the deadline for a big final project that counts toward fifty percent of your final grade! W-Way worse! We're talking about the fate of the Magical and Real World alike!

"Tell me…" Jake began to demand, he didn't have time to dilly-dally this. "Tell me how I can beat this curse!"

The Dragon merely had this to say. "Beating the curse falls upon Yahto's hands. And even I can't say. The curse cannot be beaten in the same way as other Millenium Dragons tried to beat it. Some tried spells while others tried to train their bodies to sheer exhaustion to power the curse out from them."

Thinking back to Yahto and his Game of Will, the Dragon resumed. "But if you believe in him, Yahto will find a way. He's stronger than he believes, and with an ally like you beside him he'll grow stronger mentally and spiritually. You have wisdom, child. Use it, define it, and pass it on. How you grow as a friend to Yahto could determine his fate against the curse."

This is all so confusing. How to start? Does he tell Yahto that he knows all about him? Does he let Yahto in on his secret that he's the American Dragon? Maybe…Then again, maybe not. He has to be a good friend to him and help him grow. He saw how shy and unsure of himself Yahto is, perhaps he can do something about that, to help him grow mentally and spiritually into a stronger being.

"Don't be so puzzled, American Dragon." The Dragon commented as he sensed Jake's troubled thoughts. "I have faith that you will be a good friend and inspiration to the child. I have faith that in three days you will be able to help him overcome the curse. After all, it has been prophesized that in a millennia the curse will finally come to an end."

Prophecy? Oh yeah, now he remembers. Fu told him as much this morning back at the grandpa's shop. In a thousand years the curse will be as weak as a soaked notebook page. Hey, if prophecy says that it will be broken during this time period, then they should have nothing to worry about. All he has to do is be there for Yahto as a friend, right?

Yeah well, how is he going to explain this to gramps? He kind of made it clear that he's not willing to risk the whole Magical World all because of some prophecy. Yeah, that's one to add to the "To-Do" list.

"Now, I believe I have taken enough of your time." The Dragon declared, snapping Jake out of his thoughts. "I shall return you back to whence I took you from."

"Before you zap me back with your magic." Jake interrupted. There's just one thing that's been nagging at his mind ever since this Dragon made it known that he knew about the Millenium Dragon, and about Yahto. "Would you mind telling me who exactly are you?"

The Dragon smirked. "Of course. I believe after putting you through so much the least I could do is introduce myself." He chuckled for a moment before continuing. "I am a Dragon from days old, master of Magic and king of games. My name is Akuba."

"Aku…Ba?" Why does that name sound familiar…?

"Ah!" He remembers now! Fu mentioned him this morning! According to his records Akuba was the Dragon who sealed the curse in the first place a thousand years ago. But that…That can't be right, could it? For this Dragon to be alive he'd have to be…Well, one heck of an old man! But this Dragon looks too young to be that old; he barely looks older than thirty.

"Come on, you're pulling my leg, right?" Jake meant to disrespect, but he finds it hard to believe this Dragon is the same Akuba from a thousand years ago. "You can't be this Akuba dude, could you? The same one who sealed the curse?"

"Ah, so you've heard of me."

"Say what? But that can't be right. You'd have to be more than a thousand years old, and you barely look thirty!"

"Alas, I am the same Akuba who sealed the curse a thousand years ago." The Dragon, Akuba, began to explain. "A thousand years ago I casted a powerful magic to seal the curse away; however it came at a price. My body was destroyed, and my soul was sealed away along with the curse. I am present within every Millenium Dragon that has existed, keeping the curse at bay and trying to aid them at breaking the curse. In other words, you can think of me as Yahto's guardian angel against the curse."

"If you're the one who sealed the curse, wouldn't it have been easier to just destroy it?"

"Even my magic has its limits." Akuba replied.

"Oh…Right. Duh." Jake knew it couldn't be that easy, otherwise Akuba would've done it centuries ago.

"Now, if that is all. I believe it's time I should return you to your home." With that Akuba raised his arm and aimed the palm of his hand at Jake, his tattoos acting up again as the American Dragon is suddenly surrounded by a white light.

A bit surprised Jake covered his face from the light, but he still has a question or two in his mind. "Wait, Akuba! What if I…What if we need you? How can we talk to you?"

Akuba chuckled and gave a simple answer. "Don't worry, young Dragon. I am never far. While the curse is within the boy I will always be within Yahto. I'll be in his shadow, in his heart. If any of you need me, I am but just a simple step away."

Before Jake could say anything else, he felt his body levitating and the white light getting brighter and brighter. He had to close his eyes from the blinding glow…

* * *

"Come on, Yaht. Just one more!"

A groan. "Maybe later, Trixie. I'm tired…"

"You might wanna give him some time to rest, Trix. I mean, he's been practicing all day and between that and falling, I don't think his bones really like that."

"All right, Spud. I get the message. Let's call it a day then, y'all."

Thank goodness Spud was on his side. He didn't know how much more of this he could take. He was grateful that they were taking their time to help him get better at skating (And he was having fun doing it despite all the falls and drops), but it's just that sometimes Trixie ran him to the ground (Not literarily) with some of her teachings. Some of the obstacles she made you do were a bit…Extreme.

Yahto sighed in relief as they stepped out of the park, gingerly rubbing his sore right shoulder as they exited the park. He looked around and only had one question in mind. "Hey guys, did Jake went home or something? I haven't seen him since I brought him those things from the First Aid Station in the park."

Trixie and Spud looked at each other. That's right, Jake hasn't gotten back yet from his little goblin issue. Uh-oh. Quick, come up with something to say!

Spud suddenly got something. "Ummm…Yeah! You see, he uh…He had to go home because…His cell phone rang! Yeah! It was his mom and she needed his help with something so uh…He was coming right back after he was done though!"

In her thoughts, Trixie gave a handful of thanks to Spud for the quick save.

"Help his mom?" Yahto echoed. "Well, that's nice of him. I thought he got hurt much badly than we thought and had to be taken to the hospital or something."

"Nah, he's fine!" Spud responds casually. He looks over to his left and points out with a smile. "In fact, there he comes right now!"

Yahto turns around and finds Jake walking out from an alley and toward them. Looks like he's okay from his injuries (Unaware that it was a lie), that's good at least.

"Jaaaake!" Yahto calls, waving his arm.

Jake, deep in thought as he got out from the alley after going through his little experience with Akuba, lifted his head and saw his friends standing just outside the skate park. Waving back at Yahto he heads back toward them, meeting by the sidewalk next to the skate park.

"Hey guys." Jake greets them. "Sorry I bailed like that."

Trixie shrugged it off. "Hey, no worries Jakie! We know how it is with ya. While you were busy we spent time getting Yahto here to practice some more with his skates!"

Jake gave a nervous chuckle. With Trixie again? Ooh boy. She can be quite harsh. And judging by how Yahto looked, dirt on his clothes and some bruises here and there, she didn't take it easy on him. "Hehe…Eeehh, rough practice huh?"

Yahto lowered his head a bit shyly and nodded in response. "Y-Yeah, but it was still fun. I learned a lot than I would have skating by myself."

"At least you had fun." Jake added. He couldn't help but feel relieved that Yahto felt better and more confident now, instead of backing away and going home after getting a taste of how a practice session with Trixie is. And if Akuba is right, this kind of improvement in his confidence and courage is what he will need for the upcoming events involving the Millenium Dragon curse.

Jake snapped his fingers suddenly. "Ah! I almost forgot something!" He dug into his pocket for something and soon pulled out a certain necklace. Yahto gasped upon seeing it. "Before I forget again, this is yours, right?"

"My…My necklace!" Yahto couldn't believe it; he thought he lost it during one of his memory lapses! "Where did you find it?"

"I found it at the park." Jake replied, taking in account the park they were in last night. "I figured it was yours since you had this sort of bling on yesterday at the park."

That's right! Last time he had it on he was at the park with Jake. That memory lapse…He must've lost it during it. How he lost it he didn't know, but he's so happy now that Jake brought it back to him.

Taking the necklace back, Yahto smiled in gratitude. "Thank you, Jake. I was very sad when I thought I lost it, it means a lot to me. My dad brought it home for me during one of his trips. It never leaves my side."

Quite true, Yahto takes it almost anywhere he goes. Out of all the treasures and gifts his father always brings home from his trips, this necklace was the most important to him. It reminds him of his father, and whenever he wears it he feels protected from anything evil in the world. It may sound silly, but to Yahto this necklace is important. He would feel incomplete if he has to go through a day without it.

Little does he know though, this necklace holds a secret…

"Yo!" Trixie cries out to get the attention of everyone. "Today was fun and all, but this day has been pretty hot y'all. How about we kick over to the usual ice cream shop for a little something something?"

Jake smiled. An ice cream is what he needs after such a day. "Hehe, I'm down with that!"

Spud was more than happy to go. "Yeah! I could go for an ice cream sundae with hot fudge and sprinkles!"

"Well then, let's go!" With that, Trixie took the lead.

Meanwhile Yahto looked at his necklace before putting it around his neck, feeling that aura of protection developing over him. His most prized possession, now hanging around his neck once again, and its rightful place.

"_You seem to have fun today. And you've made new friends as well."_

"Ah!" Yahto whirled around, facing no one but the skate park's entrance. That voice…

"_You seem to be in good hands, Yahto. You have hardships ahead of you, but I'm certain you will do fine. I'll be with you, for you and I are intertwined."_

"Akuba…?" It sounds like him, but where is he? He and him intertwined? Of course, he's part of the curse, right? He's helping him stay alive from the dragon in his dreams. Like a guardian angel…?

"Yahto!"

Yahto jumped and turned around, seeing Jake, Trixie and Spud already across the street looking back at him. Right, they were going to the ice cream shop.

"Yo!" Jake called out. "Aren't you coming too?"

Yahto blinked and pointed at himself. "M-Me?"

"Who else are we talking to?" Trixie joked around. "Are you coming for some ice cream or are you going to burn under the sun all day?"

Yahto smiled. They want him to come along too? This would be the first time he would actually go out to hang out with a group of friends since…Since, wow, he doesn't even remember when was the last time he did this sort of thing. He was always a house body you could say, always staying at home after school or anything he had to do outside.

Needless to say, it was a refreshing change.

"Come on!" Spud called out to hurry him up.

"OK! I'm coming!"

* * *

Six…Six out of ten…

More than halfway done…The plan is going smoothly…

Only three days until the Moon of the Dragon is upon them…

Then their plan will come into fruition…

Six…Six golden scales in their possession…

Six bright lights in the dark room…

You can feel the energy flowing from them…he feeling overwhelming…

The Huntsmaster knew their time was coming. Soon enough the plan will be set into motion, and they will attain unimaginable power, the power that could destroy the Dragons, and the Magical Realm.

Who would've thought that these seemingly harmless scales would grant such power when all ten are together? And with six already in hand, the Huntsmaster can already feel the power at his fingertips. All they need to do is to find the remaining four, and when the Moon of the Dragon is up in the night sky, they will finally fulfill their destiny!

The only obstacle is the American Dragon. The Huntsmaster clearly knows how many times that meddling Dragon has foiled his plans, more recently in the struggle into collecting the Aztec Skulls.

However, with this turn of events, the Aztec Skulls have been rendered obsolete. Once this plan has been fulfilled not even the Aztec Skulls will compare! And even _if _the American Dragon manages to foil this plan, the Aztec Skulls will still be there as a plan to fall back on. One plan may fail, but the other may succeed.

"Have you discovered the locations of the remaining four?" The Huntsmaster inquires to the approaching Huntsmen.

"Not yet, Huntsmaster." One of them replies as they drop to one knee in respect. "But we are searching high and low for them. We will find them on schedule."

"You better." The Huntsmaster threatens as his eyes narrow dangerously. "Need I remind you that we have three days until the Moon of the Dragon is up? Once the Moon is up, we need all ten, including the Dragon!"

The Huntsman nods and gulps, bowing his head. "Y-Yes, Huntsmaster. We will not fail."

"For your sake, you better." The Huntsmaster concluded as the Huntsmen leave to continue the search.

Six out of ten…

When all ten are together, the power will be unlocked on the Moon of the Dragon…

A power so terrifying that could destroy the Dragons and the Magical Realm.

"Soon." The Huntsmaster mutters as he looks at the six golden scales in his collection alongside his collection of the Aztec Skulls. "Soon our ideals will be finally realized. The power of the Millenium Dragon will soon be ours!"

"_Soon the Magical Realm will fall!"_

* * *

Best day ever.

That's how Yahto could only call this day. Despite having numerous falls and bruises at the skate park and possibly humiliation on a scale of the whole park, he had a lot of fun. At first he was shy and timid about going to the skate park, but now he doesn't regret facing his fears and attending the park with his new friends.

Wow. Yahto just now realized at how much potentially fun times he must've missed for not facing his fears before. Who knows what else he has missed out on; parties, outings, even getting into sports, and…Even finding the right friends.

Akuba was right; keeping his friends close is what he needed. Maybe he can trust this Akuba dragon after all.

"Akuba…" That's right. He was having so much fun at the skate park and at the ice cream shop that he totally forgot about this whole Millenium Dragon business. He needs to grow stronger, and perhaps this is what he needs. To get over his fears and become more courageous.

"_Hey um, Yahto?"_

"_Hm? What is it, Jake?"_

"_Can we…Meet at Central Park tomorrow by the Bethesda Fountain? There's something I wanna talk with you about."_

"_Oh…Sure, I guess."_

"I wonder what he wants to talk about." Yahto wondered as he skated his way back home.

And so ends the third day...


End file.
